Winter has arrived?

Hello everyone.

It's hard to believe that wintertime officially arrived today. Normally it's in the 20s to 40s this time of year, but today?  It was mid 70s!  Really.  I went out in just a light sweatshirt and thought I'd roast before I could get home and change it!

It may seem funny to comment on an unusually warm winter, but...that much warmth this time of year generally spells storms.  Tomorrow is expected to be no different. We're supposed to have thunderstorms and wind. Hold onto your lawn ornaments!

Well, now for a bit cheerier subject - my card for the day. This cutie is Candy Cane Anneke, the December stamp of the month by From the Heart stamps. Check out other gallery entries here.  (No one can say I'm not loyal, as I feature of lot of their digital images.) I have lots of other brands, but find these images incredibly fun to color with my Copic Sketch markers.

My Copic color choices include:
Hat and candy cane: R22, 24, 29, 39, 59, 89
Skin: E00, E11, BV00
Cheeks: R20
Eyes: B00
Hair: E50, E31, E44
Dress: B63, B66, B69
Boots: E42, E55, E35
Outline and white shading: W1

Here's a closer look:

This card features navy blue cardstock, white X-Press It blending card for the image, Spellbinders Nestabilities Lacey Ovales die cut, a royal blue oval taped behind the die cut for depth, and Liquid Pearls accents on Echo Park 6x6 "Winter Wishes" paper pad.

And on the inside, I have more Echo Park paper, along with my greeting from Hero Arts Stamp and Cut Season's Greetings set.

 

 

I had a wonderful time creating this little darling. In fact, I really couldn't help myself as I made several cards from this image with various color combinations and designs.

 

 



 

 

The first and third images directly above also feature embossed snowflakes in white opaque, as well as some gold and diamond colored Stickles in the center of the designer paper snowflakes. Hope you enjoy my fun cards.

 

Now, to all you and yours, may you have a safe, happy, healthy Christmas. May God bless us each and every one, as we celebrate once again the newborn King!

There are Always Flowers

This Friday marks a turning point in my life: my boss is retiring. Now, I don't know that she would want her name or photo posted on a blog, so I'm not including them.  She has a really unique name, so it wouldn't be fair. Still, I want to pay a short tribute to her, even though she'll probably never see it. It doesn't matter; she doesn't seek praise. She does what she does to be true to herself.

Some people might be glad to see a boss retire, but not me - not this one. I dearly love my boss. She's been my mentor, my inspiration, my source of knowledge, and in many ways my friend for the 2 1/2 years I've had my job. I know that a new leader is coming in, and I have the greatest respect for what she'll bring. I'm not worried about leadership; I'm simply sad to say farewell to my dear friend.

You may wonder what makes her so memorable for me. So, this is what I can say. "L" is always even-tempered; I have rarely seen her flustered. She always has a kind word to say, and for her the glass is always half-full. Most of the time, it's all-full. She meets frustration on my part with a simple phrase, "Calm down." Then when my spirit is quiet, we tackle challenges together. (I find this somewhat funny, as I always thought I was calm!)

"L" has been preparing me for her retirement for the length of my service in my job. She was fulfilling her own commitment before retiring and has stayed on long after most would have departed.  She has maintained her integrity and done her work faithfully for a long time. She is beloved by many - and sought out for her counsel constantly. Her shoes will be hard to fill.

Because of who "L" is, I made a special easel card for her staff to sign. It carries a quote from Henri Matisse: "There are always flowers for those who want to see them."  She liked that sentiment! And the flowers I get to see today are that we have promised to see each other and have lunch from time to time. While I'll miss her day-to-day, it isn't goodbye forever!  Praise God!

 

The flowers are dogwoods from Hero Arts. This is a single stamped image. The card is an easel card made from several different card stocks, including Bazzill and Neenah Classic Crest. The dogwoods are colored with Copic markers in pink and green. Coloring was super simple, as the shading for the flowers and leaves is already stamped from the image; there's no guesswork about where to shade.

 

The design for the easel part of the card came from a Split Coast Stampers tutorial by Beate Johns. I made my card a standard 5.5 inches wide, rather than the 4 1/4" she used. All other measurements were the same. This easel was super simple!

 

Thanks for reading my tribute to "L" and please join me again for a really fun card!



On Becoming a "New" Scrapbooker

Hello, friends.

I've been a scrapbooker for more than a dozen years, but recently I was given a simple tip that literally re-energized my scrapbooking. For years, I've used post-style albums, and one of the things I've always found frustrating is the need to de-construct my whole album if I leave something out of its proper spot in the book, or get something out of order. Well, no more.

My dear friend, Lisa, who is a marvelous scrapbook designer/creator, fellow blogger, and YouTube sensation, mentioned that she had made the switch some time ago to ring-binder scrapbook albums. One of the major reasons was to avoid the whole "de-construction" thing. Instead of spending time organizing, positioning, and doing all the pre-planning that post-bound albums demand, she could simply do her pages one at a time and place them in the album where she wanted them. Now, I'm sure something in me must have realized this all along, but her few words had bells going off in my head!  Of course - what a perfect solution!

So, now I've made the switch to ring-binder albums. No more "posts" for me!  I've settled on We R Memory Keepers albums for my collection (although there are many choices one might make). I've purchased an album, as well as photo sleeves in various configurations. The link given above is the least expensive price I've seen, particularly if you prefer to shop online, and there are several shipping options.  Or, if you like to shop the big box stores, such as Michael's, A.C. Moore, etc., there are often coupons for 40-50% off one regular priced item.  (For the record, I make no money from promoting these products.)

Keep in mind that photo sleeves are only one option for making scrapbook pages. I'll also combine this technique with true 12" x 12" scrapbook pages, designed and constructed, as my time allows. These can be inserted into the full-page photo sleeves easily and will give my albums a lot of variety. They'll also feed my desire for creativity.

I'm having a marvelous time just making my pages - rather than pre-planning exactly where they'll fall in my albums.  This is incredibly liberating - and no small feat for someone with decades of photos to put into albums.

For today, I prepared a recent layout from the last week of May. This was an especially memorable trip to me for two reasons: (1) we spent time and fell in love with my husband's first cousin and her husband from Michigan; and (2) I made my first-ever trip to North Carolina's Outer Banks. I can hardly believe that it took me, a native North Carolinian, more than 50 years to get there! It was beautiful and definitely worth the trip.

Today I want to share my Outer Banks page and talk about a few changes I'm adjusting to as a "new" scrapbooker. Let me name a few of the most obvious things:

• Today we have tons more products, tools, and choices. Time-saving is a big deal, so album styles have exploded. I've made the switch from post-bound to ring-bound.
• Moving to a ring-bound album means that the photo sleeve options will sometimes constrain my design choices. I'm okay with that if it saves me a lot of time. I can still make a fully-constructed 12" x 12" traditional layout if I choose.
• Photo sleeves may limit the types of embellishments I can use for my pages. Again, if I want something particular, I can revert to 12" x 12" construction.
• I've begun to use the computer to complete my journaling.  I have lots of album pages with my handwriting, and I may continue to handwrite some of them, but the time savings is immense.
• Using the computer for journaling means that different types of embellishments may be needed; for example, the journaling box at top right (below) has a stamped-off image to add interest to the page. I have to plan embellishments more carefully, as journaling on the computer and leaving just the right space for stickers, brads, buttons, ribbons, or other items may be tricky.

 



 

For example, once I had the journaling box printed for this layout, I realized it was just too plain. I dressed it up with a stamped-off image from SU!'s Summer by the Sea (retired) rubber stamp set. My ink of choice is Hero Arts Shadow Ink in mid-tone Wet Cement. This required a bit of experimentation as a full-strength stamped image was just a bit busy. Stamping off once before applying to my journal block did the trick.

Full-strength stamp in Hero Arts Shadow Ink
 



Stamped-Off Image

The difference between the full-strength and the stamped-off image is fairly subtle, but it made all the difference on the journaling block. It added a nice finishing touch to the page. These types of challenges seem fairly minor, but they can mean a big adjustment for an "old-timer." It's worth the effort though.

 

That's it for today. Please join me again for scrapbooking and card making fun. Thanks for visiting and may God bless!