Dangerous Dinosaur

Recovery from spine surgery is like watching paint dry- boring and it takes a lot of time! I've already watched every episode of Downton Abbey (twice!) and several other shows, I don't feel much like reading yet and I'm not ready to tackle work things that are piling up. I love making cards, but they require a little more standing/sitting time than I can manage every day. To fill some of this down time, I started knitting again and thought I would share some of my recent projects.

 

I have to admit that I have several unfinished projects in my knitting basket that are over a decade old (yikes!) and figured  that was the place to start before tackling new projects. I started this cute Dinosaur sweater for my son when he was a toddler (he's 12 BTW!) and decided this would be the first one to finish. After I got the bag of yarn out, I realized I couldn't find the pattern-anywhere! Ravelry to the rescue! 

Ravelry is a knitters site, much like Splitcoaststampers is to stampers- a place to share things you create, ideas, techniques, and PATTERNS! I searched 'dinosaur sweater' and it immediately came up with the one I had started and through the wonders of Amazon, I got a virtually new book for $3- cheapest thing I have ever bought on Amazon-lol!

This book by Lucinda Guy is totally the bomb!! Gorgeous sweaters, hats, blankets and animals for kids. I will definitely be making some baby gifts in the future from this book!

I love the way all of her patterns are laid out with both a picture of the finished knitted piece and a grid to follow, which makes it super easy!

I used a cotton called Provence from Classic Elite Yarns colors, but in colors that were a bit brighter for my dinosaur.

So far, I've finished the back of the sweater (made a few minor mistakes but that's why you start with the back first;-)) The spots, the face and the claws will be sewn on with white yarn after it's blocked.

The little boy who is going to receive this sweater is coming next weekend so I'd better get knitting! More pics to come when it's finished!

Another Gray Hare

This is going to be a year of big birthdays in our family including a sweet 16 for my sweet girl, an 85th for my mother, a 55th for hubby, a 90th for my FIL and the 21st anniversary of my 29th birthday;-)). The first in this pack of milestone birthdays was my brother who turned 60 last week! 

Despite a 10 year age difference, my brother has always been very close to me and this has only gotten stronger as we have aged matured. We talk almost every day and often text back and forth during the day.  So this birthday boy deserved a super-duper card from his crafty sister for this special day.

I started with a digital image called 'Rascally Rabbit' from a company called Squigglefly, which I was sad to hear had just closed after many years. I love this silly rabbit- just the light-hearted, goofy look I was going for!

Guy cards are always a challenge for me both in layout and colors. A pack of Designer Paper (DP) in my stash called Confetti Celebration seemed perfect with geometric shapes and mostly manly colors- a splash of bright pink doesn't hurt any guy! I am definitely rusty after not making anything for over a year, so you can clearly see that my coloring skills are still covered with dust and cobwebs-lol!

I love finishing the insides of my cards- somehow a blank white page seems so naked and uninteresting. There's not much room to write on this one, but he knows how much we adore him so a short message was OK this time!

Hope your week is off to a good start!


 




Supplies: 
Stamp: Digital image from Rascally Rabbit from Squigglefly
Paper: Confetti Celebration DP, Basic Gray, Whisper White, Island Indigo
Ink: Blendabilities
Accessories:Folder Arrows Embossing folder, Candy Dots-Regals, Stampin' Dimensionals

A Trio of Thanks

I can't believe it's been over a year since my last post, the last time I picked up a marker, cut paper, made anything other than a school poster-lol! Time slips by and we get busy with work, kids, life and it gets harder and harder to make "me" time.

Those who know me well also know that since moving to Atlanta I began a new love affair. No, not a new man, but an obsession called running. It was such a welcome relief to come to a place that was wooded, pretty with rolling hills and four real seasons! 

My love affair came to a screeching halt when I hurt my back and damaged two disks, entrapping my sciatic nerve. After the holidays it was finally time to take the plunge and have surgery to fuse my spine (and hopefully make me bionic:)) with the promise of future stability. This is a major surgery with a long recovery time (i.e. months). 

No running, no work, no kids activities. Many, many friends have come to our rescue with meals, cards, sweets and I realized I was quickly out of my stash of thank you cards. When I was able to sit up, I decided it was time to get out those markers and ink and start back into something I loved so much.

I started with some simple flat cards that could be finished with a little coloring, minimal layering, and finished quickly since I can't sit up for very long at a stretch. 

I had fun trying out the new Blendabilities markers from Stampin' Up. I'm so glad they finally produced their own line of alcohol markers which match exactly with their paper colors. I was always fudging it with my Copic markers to find ones that came close. These markers flow beautifully and it's really easy to blend shades for realistic shadowing.

 

I also cracked open a new stamp set and paper from the Sale-a-bration catalog- these colors are so bright and summery- makes me forget we're still deep in winter! This special runs until March 31st, so check out the fabulous free stamp sets, paper and accessories they are offering!

Now it's time to write those notes! Hopefully the people who receive them will know how much I really appreciate their kindness and friendship, especially at this time!

Supplies:

Stamps: Peaceful Petals (retired), Simply Wonderful (Sale-a-bration)

Paper: Whisper White, Blushing Bride, Calypso Coral, Crisp Cantaloupe, Coastal Cabana, Crushed Curry, Best Year Ever DP

Ink: Baked Brown Sugar, Coastal Cabana, Crisp Cantaloupe, Calypso Coral, Memento Tuxedo Black

Accessories: Blushing Bride Chevron ribbon, Deco Labels and Window Frames Framelits, Modern Label punch, Word Window punch, oval punch, Blendabilities markers, Best Year Ever Accessory pack, Stampin' Dimensionals, Candy Dots, Pearl Basic Jewels, Basic Metal Buttons, Linen Thread

Let It Snow!

No matter how many Christmas/winter stamps I have, somehow I can't resist buying new stamp sets and images each year! People who know me well are aware of my snowman fetish- I just love them! I recently purchased some digital stamps from one of my favorite artists, Birdie Brown, and was lucky I did because she has just closed her Etsy shop for good:-((( Her images are so whimsical and cute- I am going to miss her creativity on the stamping scene!

I resized the image in Photoshop and printed it on Whisper White cardstock from SU. I give it a few minutes to set the ink or give it a quick heat dry before coloring with Copics so the ink doesn't bleed. Ice Stickles gives the snowflakes and lighter green band on the trees a little sparkle. I dug through my crazy ribbon collection (scary fetish!) and found some red fluffy balls which give the card some whimsy, but make it a hand-delivered card only because of thickness.

The inside was finished with some coordinating patterned paper and a sentiment from the "Tags 4 You" set from the SU Holiday catalog.

Torico (Birdie Brown) we will miss your creativity and wonderful images- here's to you!







Supplies:
Stamps: "Let it Snow" (Birdie Brown), Tags 4 You (SU)
Ink: Real Red, Copic markers
Paper: Basic Grey "Dasher", Real Red, Marina Mist, Whisper White
Accessories: Button, pom-pom trim, jingle bell, red rhinestones, hemp twine, Stampin' dimensionals, Label Bracket Punch, Deco Labels Collection Framelits

Whale of a birthday!

I was about to complain about the cold, gloomy, rainy day it is today, then I looked at the weather around the country and said my thanks that we are below the worst of it here in Atlanta. I pray for all those traveling to family for the holidays for safe travels. Hopefully may card today is a blast of sunshine to shake off the gloomies! 

I have another card from my collection of "Long Fellows"- these are such cute images that I'm trying to use them all! It feels more like a summer card, but this guy seemed to beg for some sunny skies and blue seas:-)) I dug through some unopened papaer packs and found perfect patterns for this card from the "Sycamore Street" set from Stampin' Up.

 

Darling daughter convinced me that this little guy needed a sunny day to go with his colorful waves and I think that was the perfect touch! 

  

The inside was finished with more of the patterned paper and another whale image.

Hope you're keeping dry and if you're traveling: take a cleansing breath, be patient and be SAFE!

Supplies:

Stamps: Long Fellows (Hostess), Made for You

Paper: Soft Sky, Tangerine Tango, Whisper White, Sycamore Street

Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Copic Markers

Accessories: Cloudy Day embossing folder, Tangerine Tango satin ribbon,  Bracket Label Punch, 1-1/4" Circle Punch, Sunshine Die-namics (MFT), Ice Stickles

Turtle love...

I realized that since I have not been doing much crafting in the past year or so that my card stash is seriously being depleted, especially for kid-friendly birthday cards! This cute set from Stampin' Up is perfect for not-so-girly cards, a genre which is very difficult for me since kid #1 was a verifiable girly-girl!

Since I'm not the most punctual person ( a major joke!), I figured having a belated birthday card in the stash was a good idea! The hexagon patterns work well with the little blocks on his shell and I love the color combination of green, blue and orange for a boy card.

The inside was finished with a hand cut strip of the hexagon patterned paper and just a peek of the turtle coming across. My son loved the word bubble on the last card, so I free-handed it with a Copic multi-liner pen.

I'll have another little friend swimming by tomorrow...

Hope your week is off to a good start!

Supplies:

Stamps: Long Fellows (Hostess set), Made for You

Paper: Soft Sky, Tangerine Tango, Wild Wasabi, Whisper White, "Epic Day This and That" Designer Paper

Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Copic Markers

Accessories: Twine, button, Stampin' dimensionals, Honeycomb embossing folder, Big Shot die cut machine

Hope your day is Purrfect!

Ok, for those who still follow my blog, I am eternally grateful after all this time! Today was the first time I have actually put a stamp to ink in over a year- crazy! Three moves in one year, building a house, new jobs and a new hobby (running;)) have taken over my life for the past 2 years. Unfortunately a slipped disc (hence restricted from running for awhile) has given me the time to dust off my stamping supplies and get the mojo flowing again!

My son needed a birthday card for a sleepover tonight and definitely did not want anything too cute as a 5th grade boy! I dug through my unopened stamps and found this purrfect set called "Long Fellows".

The card base is 5.75" square, which is my favorite size for a card with a bigger image. The image was stamped on patterned paper and layered over stamped image (saved me time coloring and gave him some funky stripes;-))

  

I repeated the patterned paper on the inside of the card and re-stamped the cat with a birthday greeting. The greeting ended up a bit crooked, so it became an opportunity for embellishment with a hand drawn speech bubble made with a Copic Multiliner pen. My son thought it was the "cat's meow" and his friends all though he had the best card-score!

Have a great weekend!

Supplies:

Paper: Tangerine Tango, Very Vanilla, Basic Gray, Basic Black, Howlstooth and Scaringbone DP

Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black

Stamps: Long Fellows, Made For You

Accessories: Basic black buttons, Orange stripe bakers twine, Copic Multiliner pen, glue dots, Stampin Dimensionals