Celebrate Today and Every Day

I was feeling very zen as I left an early morning yoga class. The neighborhood was still and quiet. It’s been raining here off and on for days (weeks actually). When I stepped out of the door of the yoga studio, the sun was shining and the air was crisp and clear. The first thought in my head was:

This is the day the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad.

I’m not particularly religious, so on the one hand it was startling that a Bible verse would come to mind. And yet, with all that is going on in the world, it felt good to take a moment to find beauty, rejoice, and be glad.

My new found zen inspired me to combine a stencil, stamp, and sentiment that have been sitting unused in my stash for quite some time. I stenciled the background with Distress Inks – Tumbled Glass, Twisted Citron, and Mustard Seed. While the stencil was still in place, I applied a layer of transparent matte texture paste.

Rowhouse Greetings | Yoga Yolanda by Art Impressions

After coloring and fussy cutting the image, I attached it to the card with foam adhesive squares (I use Thin 3-D Foam Squares by Scrapbook Adhesives). However, the squares do not adhere well to texture paste. So I applied a little liquid glue to each of the foam squares to ensure that they bond to the background.

That’s all for now. Go celebrate today and everyday!

Below are the supplies I’ve used for today’s project. All items were personally purchased except those marked with an asterisk (*) . I never share a product I do not like. Read more.

Supplies

Paper: Neenah Solar White 110#; Neenah Solar White #80
Stamps: Yoga Yolanda by Art Impressions; Pretty Phrases by Paper Smooches
Inks: Black Amalgam by Gina K. Designs; Ranger Archival Ink in Jet Black; Distress Inks in Mustard Seed, Twisted Citron, and Tumbled Glass
Stencil: Glorious Petal Stencil by Hero Arts
Dies: Zig Zag Rectangle Stackables by Lawn Fawn
Embellishments: Transparent Matte Texture Paste by Ranger
Copics: E000, E00, E11, E21, E93, V20 (skin); Y15, Y19, Y38 (hair); B000, B00, B02, V20 (leotard); V20 (shoes & socks)

This Age Looks Good on You!

Last week, we celebrated my father’s 90th birthday. He doesn’t get around as well as he used to – I bought him one of those four-wheel walkers a few months ago – but he’s doing the best he can to remain independent for as long as possible.

Dad always loved fishing – surf fishing to be exact – and I have fond childhood memories of all the weird looking creatures that he’d reel into shore. So when I saw the Under the Sea stamp set by Dylusions, I knew that I’d found the sort of quirky sea life images that he’d appreciate. I wasn’t really sure what direction my coloring would go so I just started pulling out markers, primarily among the YGs, and kept adding colors and texture until I got something I liked. I paired it with a sentiment from Paper Smooches. Quick, simple and got me out the door in time to deliver his birthday cake!

Supplies

Paper: Neenah Solar White 110#; X-Press It Blending Card by Copic; Aqua Wave by American Crafts
Stamps: Under the Sea by Dylusions; Happy Birthday by Paper Smooches (front sentiment); Birthday Sampler by Paper Smooches (inside sentiment)
Dies: Stitched Squares by Simon Says Stamp
Copics: Y02, Y15, Y19, BV20, BV23, B000, YG03, YG07, YG09, YG17, YG67

Artic Antics by Penny Black

Saturday was our first snowfall of the season. Not really much accumulation, but enough to remind me that winter is here. Despite a major kitchen renovation a couple of years ago, we still have issues with freezing pipes. So dipping temperatures means pulling out the space heater and letting the kitchen faucet drip to prevent any catastrophes. Although the snow is lovely, we’re also on high alert to make sure that our pipes stay intact.

We’ve started decorating the house for the holidays- lights in the flower box, candles in the windows, and a big, beautiful wreath on the door – but unlike many of our neighbors, we have yet to put up the tree. Our living room is small, but somehow we’ll fit a fully decorated tree and fourteen people in here for Christmas Eve dinner. However, some decluttering needs to happen before the tree comes up from the basement and I have to finish up coloring projects for that to happen.

In the meantime, I’ve been coloring snow and polar bears for holiday cards – part of getting into the Christmas spirit. You may have noticed that I’m teaching a class next week that features the Polar Bear Pals stamp set by My Favorite Things. Polar bears are quick and easy to color and can be done with a limited number of markers. Obviously, there’s no white Copic marker, so you “color” white by coloring the shadows, emphasizing contours and depth. I start with the lightest warm gray to map out the shadows and then add layers of the darker grays to create the contours. I completed the shadows with a light wash of E30 to make the grays even warmer. Throw in some miscellaneous colors for the packages and you have another holiday card ready to cheer someone’s day.

What’s on your craft table today?

SUPPLIES

Below are the supplies I’ve used for today’s project. Items marked with an asterisk (*) were provided by a store or the manufacturer for free or at a discount. All other items were personally purchased. Read more.

Paper: Neenah Solar White 110#; X-Press It Blending Card by Copic; Holiday 6×6 paper pad by American Crafts; Scarlett Red Dot by Authentique (I used scraps of the solid red side of the paper).
Stamps: Artic Antics (*) by Penny Black; Boxed Greetings (*) by Paper Smooches; Believe by Penny Black (inside sentiment, not shown)
Inks: Memento in Tuxedo Black by Tsukineko; Versafine in Onyx Black by Tsukineko
Dies: Stitched Rectangles by Simon Says Stamp
Copics: W0, W1, W3, E30, 0 (bear); C0, C1, C3, R35, R46, R56, R59 (scarf); YG03, YG05, YG09, Y02, Y15, Y19, B24, B28, R35, R46, R56 (gifts); BV000, BG0000, BG10, B000 (snow/shadow)

Creative Basics by Rhea Week!

This week the Passionate Paper Creations & Friends Design Team is celebrating the release of the new dies from Creative Basics by Rhea. I was inspired by this video from Jennifer McGuire Ink and the new Dotted Daisies Die Set were perfect for the project.

I cut out several daisies from white card stock using the smallest of the daisy dies. I colored each one with a Copic marker (in this case R29) and then glue three daisies together to create a layered die cut. I applied clear Wink of Stella to make them glittery and then a coat of clear Nuvo Drops to make them glossy. While the Nuvo Drops were still wet, I added gold Mini Prills to the center of each flower. I mounted the flower using a foam square. The end result was an embellishment that was almost like a button that I could use to add color and dimension to a simple card.

Rowhouse Greetings | Creative Basics Dotted Daisies Die Set

Supplies

Paper: Neenah Solar White 110# and 80#; Seaside from the Boardwalk Collection by Bo Bunny
Stamp: Delightful Greetings by Paper Smooches
DiesCreative Basics Dotted Daisies Die Set (*) by Creative Basics by Rhea
Copics: R29

Items marked with an asterisk (*) were provided by a store or the manufacturer. All other items were personally purchased.

Friend

Yesterday, I retired from a job that I’ve held for the past thirty-seven years. Like any job, there were days when it just drove me crazy — the commute, the hours, the seemingly endless workload, the stress — you name it! But it was also a place where I worked with a special group of people and made many lasting friendships that I will always hold dear even though I’m not with them every day.

I decided to make a few cards to give to some of my co-workers (because when you’re a card maker that’s what you do!). This is one of the last that I made, but I hope that the message is clear no matter how simple the design.

Supplies

Paper: Neenah Solar White 110#; X-Press Blending Card by Copic; Midnight Blue Dots from the Micro Dot Collection by Authentique
Stamps: Hugs! by Penny Black; Sentiment Sampler by Paper Smooches
Dies: Stitched Rectangles by Simon Says Stamp
Copics: C1, C4, C6, E30, RV10 (cat) YG06, YG17 (grass)

Items marked with an asterisk (*) were provided by a store or the manufacturer. All other items were personally purchased.

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