Monday, January 31, 2022

A Daffodil Hi

I've been a member of the Technique Tuesday Greenhouse Society for a long time now... receiving the club flower stamp set each month. I hoarded them for a while, then started a series on my blog, committing to using them. 

I thoroughly enjoy this series because flowers are my favorite thing to color. 

This month's Greenhouse Society stamp set is Daffodils. I purchased the die this month, too.


The "hi" die is from a new-to-me company - Erin Lee Creative. 


Thanks for stopping by my blog today!

Stamp/Die Set: Technique Tuesday Daffodils stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black Ink and colored with Copic Markers

Papers: Neenah 110# Solar White, Recollections Black and SU Daffodil Delight CS and Paper Studio Black/White Stripe DP

Dies: Erin Lee Creative Jumbo Hi and MFT Stitched Rectangles

Saturday, January 29, 2022

Become What You Dream of Being

One of my favorite challenge groups is the Challenge Your Stash group on SCS, under the capable and organized leadership of my friend Barb. The idea is we can't shop for anything when making our monthly challenge card (which we post on the 28th of each month). I'm posting a day late because yesterday was a Design Team day on my blog.

We take turns choosing the theme. This month it was Jen's turn. She asked us to use the theme "I've Got a Dream" when making our cards. I'm sure she thought of that theme in regards to Martin Luther King, whose birthday we recognized not long ago. I do not mean to diminish his impact on our nation, but I didn't focus on him, or equality, or squelching discrimination. Instead I thought of my daughter.

Time and time again in her life she's "had a dream" - a desire to be or do something - and she's worked hard to fulfill that dream. One example of many I could share, several years ago she had a dream to be a Special Ed teacher in Alaska... in an Eskimo village. Problem was, she had an education degree in English. She took the required classes to get Special Ed certified, while working full-time. She applied for an Alaska certificate. She planned to go to a Job Fair in Anchorage and had even purchased her airline ticket when a school district requested a Skype interview. She was hired, while living in Mississippi. Even moving was not the typical move. Everything she wanted to keep and take to Alaska that wouldn't fit in her suitcase had to be boxed up and mailed, which of course was costly. She had to sell her car. She had to say good-bye to friends. All because she had a dream. And she became the woman she dreamed of being!

I am so very proud of my daughter!



I hope Jen, Barb and the other Challenge Your Stash gals like my card.

Thanks for stopping by my blog today!

Stamp Set: Unity Dream of Being stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black Ink and colored with Copic Markers

Papers: Neenah 110# Solar White and SU Sahara Sand CS and AMuse Studio Polka Dot and Paper Studio Black/White Diagonal Stripe DP 

Dies: MFT Stitched Mod Rectangle, MFT Stitched Rectangle, and Technique Tuesday Oval and Rectangle Stitched Labels

Embellishment: Paper Studio Brads and Ribbon from an unknown vendor

Friday, January 28, 2022

Blue Knight - Shoreliine

Fridays are special days - who doesn't love TGIF, right? But here on my blog Fridays are also special because they are the day I get to post as a design team member for Blue Knight Rubber Stamps.

I used the new Shoreline stamp set today.

You can check out the stamp set in the Blue Knight Rubber Stamps store - HERE.

Card #1



Card #2

I used a Watercolor Wash die from My Favorite Things to cut the image into a unique shape on this card for a different kind of look.


I think it's amazing to see how one stamp looks so different depending on how it's used. 

* * * * * 

You can find each of today's featured stamps HERE, at the Blue Knight Rubber Stamps web store.

And... don't forget to join us at the Fan Group and YouTube Channel:
Fans of Blue Knight Rubber Stamps (Facebook group) is HERE
and the Blue Knight Rubber Stamps YouTube Channel is HERE

Jeanette Cloyd, Design Team Member

Thanks for stopping by my blog today!

Thursday, January 27, 2022

Stamping Sisters Winter Camp 2022 - Day 4

The fun continues. It's camp week...

It's a virtual cardmaking camp with a different counselor each day, giving a tutorial/lesson, then we all have fun creating. 

Here are the camp counselors and their class dates:

Monday/January 24th  ~ Jeanette @ Creativeplay 
Tuesday/January 25th ~ Kelly @ Sandcastlestamper
Wednesday/January 26th ~ Barb  @ inkingintoretirement
Thursday/January 27th ~ Darlene @ Accordingtobijou

This is Day 4, which means it's Darlene's turn to be counselor. Darlene had a great tutorial for us AND she sent us some fun products to use, too - two colors of Creative Expressions Gilding Polish. THANK YOU, Darlene! 

Darlene's lesson includes a fold I've never seen/used before as well as instructions for using the gilding polish she sent us.

Be sure to check out Darlene's tutorial on her blog - HERE - because I'm not going to share the details of how to make this fun fold... but it definitely is one you might like to try. I'm thinking I'm going to see if I can figure out how to make it in an A2 size and use it again. We'll see.


Isn't that an awesome fold? I really liked the challenge of figuring out how to put it together, following Darlene's instructions, of course.

The shimmer of the gilding Polish doesn't show up well in the photos taken in my light box so I took this photo laying flat on my desk in hopes you could see how luscious that look is...


I don't know if I was supposed to or not, but I didn't attach the right side of the "green" piece, but rather propped it under the square that is popped up with foam dots. That way it can be laid flat to mail.


This card has a lot of depth and will easily stand up on its own.



I hope Darlene likes my card... and Barb and Kelly, too!

I'm kind of sad that camp is over. It has been a great experience. Hopefully we'll have another Stamping Sisters Mini Card Camp in a few months.

Thanks for stopping by my blog today!

Stamp Set: Stampin' UP! Lots of Thanks stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black

Papers: Neenah 110# Solar White, Recollections Black, and SU Emerald Envy CS

Stencil: Rabbit Hole Drop It

Dies: MFT Stitched Rectangles and SU Stitched Shapes Squares

Special Medium: Creative Expressions Gilding Polish (Fern and Indian Pink)

Wednesday, January 26, 2022

Stamping Sisters Winter Camp 2022 - Day 3

The fun continues. It's camp week...


It's a virtual cardmaking camp with a different counselor each day, giving a tutorial/lesson, then we all have fun creating. 

Here are the camp counselors and their class dates:

Monday/January 24th  ~ Jeanette @ Creativeplay 
Tuesday/January 25th ~ Kelly @ Sandcastlestamper
Wednesday/January 26th ~ Barb  @ inkingintoretirement
Thursday/January 27th ~ Darlene @ Accordingtobijou

This is Day 3, which means it's Barb's turn to be counselor. Her tutorial made me so happy because it reminded me of those hotpads I loved to make as a child. You need to check out her tutorial - HERE.

My card had a mind of its own - the strips shifted a bit as I adhered them (I wasn't watching closely enough) so instead of a panel covering almost my entire card base, my woven piece had to be trimmed down. Plan B worked... so unless Barb (or Kelly or Darlene) kick me out, I'm not going to fret about my oops.




I hope Barb likes my card... and Kelly and Darlene, too!

Thanks for stopping by my blog today!

Stamp/Die Set: Your Next Stamp Cheeky Monkey stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black Ink and colored with Copic Markers

Papers: Neenah 110# Solar White CS and other CS from Recollections; DP from an unknown vendor

Dies: MFT Stitched Rectangle and Spellbinders A2 Matting Basics

Embossing Powder: SU Crystal Clear

Tuesday, January 25, 2022

Stamping Sisters Winter Camp 2022 - Day 2

The fun continues. If you were here on my blog yesterday, you know this is camp week... 


It's a virtual cardmaking camp with a different counselor each day, giving a tutorial/lesson, then we all have fun creating. 

Here are the camp counselors and their class dates:

Monday/January 24th  ~ Jeanette @ Creativeplay 
Tuesday/January 25th ~ Kelly @ Sandcastlestamper
Wednesday/January 26th ~ Barb  @ inkingintoretirement
Thursday/January 27th ~ Darlene @ Accordingtobijou

This is Day 2, which means it's Kelly's turn to be counselor. If you know Kelly, you know she eats, sleeps, and breathes CREATIVITY! So hold on... because her tutorial is amazing! Check it out on her YouTube channel - HERE. You can also see her instructions on her blog - HERE.

This was a brand new technique for me... so I gather the supplies and just jumped in with no idea at all where this would take me. LOL! It was a whole lot of fun and then some!!!

The idea is to stamp on tissue paper, tear the images out and then adhere them to more tissue paper. Kelly explains it much better than that but that's my paraphrase.




You will notice that this technique, as described by Kelly, is all solid images... but I got to thinking. (Dangerous, I know.) The stamp set I used also has outlines... why not stamp on the piece of white cardstock before wrapping it in tissue paper. Let's see how that goes.




I hope Kelly likes my card... and Barb and Darlene, too!

Thanks for stopping by my blog today!

Stamp Set: Altenew Sweet Flowers stamped with Lawn Fawn Inks (Bubblegum, Cilantro, and Wild Rose) and Memento Ink (Tuxedo Black)

Papers: Tissue Paper, Neenah 110# Solar White, Recollections 110# Black, and SU Cameo Coral CS

Dies: MFT Stitched Rectangle, Paper Roses Hello Layered, and Stamplorations You

Embellishments: Gina Marie Enamel Dots and Taylored Expressions Enamel Heart



Monday, January 24, 2022

Stamping Sisters Winter Camp 2022 - Day 1

This isn't just an exciting day here on my blog, it is an exciting week! It is camp time! But this isn't just any camp. Not. at. all. It is....


The 4-day Stamping Sisters Mini Card Camp has a different camp counselor each day and each counselor is prepared to lead the campers to stretch into unknown techniques, or tried and true ones that just need to be revisited. It is guaranteed to be a lot of fun.

Counselors:

Jeanette (that's me) - Monday 

Kelly - Tuesday

Barb - Wednesday

Darlene - Thursday

I thought I'd start things off a little easy peasy and leave the others to teach/lead the more challenging lessons. I think the others had a clue mine would be easy when the only supply I put on our supply list for the week was an embossing folder.

The idea to feature embossing folders came to me as I was organizing (and purging) my huge collection of embossing folders. I realized I rarely ever use them. It is time they see some action so I knew for my challenge, three things had to be present...

1. The embossing folder/s MUST be the star of the card.

2. No stamped images are allowed on the card.

3. Sentiments are optional.

Now to get to my tutorial; well, as soon as I show you my FAILS!

My first idea was to add washi tape (or strips of paper if the campers didn't have washi tape) to a piece of cardstock and then emboss for what I thought would be a creative look. Total fail!

Fail #1


I put a rainbow of washi tape strips on blue cardstock and ran it through the Altenew Cloudy Day embossing folder. You could barely see the embossed areas, so then I swiped a Versamark ink pad over the surface to catch the raised areas and make them a little more pronounced. It was a little better but still a failure.

Not to worry. I had more ideas.

Fail #2


I decided to emboss a piece of white cardstock with the Altenew Whimsical Bouquet embossing folder and then use blending brushes to color the lifted areas. If I had used smaller blending brushes this might have worked, but as it is, I thought it just looked like a mess. UGH!

Fail #3 

But it did show some potential!


I embossed a piece of white cardstock with the Stampin' UP! Tin Tile embossing folder and used my finger to rub a color of Luster Rub On medium to the embossed piece. I didn't like the first color so I tried another... and another... and another. Nope. Not liking it. But wait! 

Attempt #4

I used black cardstock for a rich luscious look! Winner. Winner. Chicken dinner.

Onward we go.

Attempt #5 (the last one)


I embossed a piece of Kraft cardstock with the Altenew Organic Linen embossing folder and used a blending brush to add color to the raised areas, giving it a more defined look.

Now on to my card. I used the pieces from Attempt #4 and Attempt #5 to create it.


I really wish you could see this in person. The rub on medium is rich and gorgeous.



So, Kelly, Barb, and Darlene, are you still with me? I want you to make cards that use one... or more of the techniques I tried - or something similar to them. Adapting is good and we are all flexible.

But remember...

1. The embossing folder/s MUST be the star of the card.

2. No stamped images are allowed on the card.

3. Sentiments are optional.

Have fun! I'll look forward to seeing your cards soon.

And thanks to EVERYONE who has stopped by my blog today!

Stamp/Die Set: Technique Tuesday Lots of Sentiments stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black Ink

Papers: Joann's 110# Kraft, Neenah 110# Solar White, Recollections 110# Black, and SU Sahara Sand CS

Embossing Folders: Altenew Organic Linen and Stampin' UP! Tin Tile

Medium/Ink (for Special Features): Lawn Fawn Ink (Hippo and Soot) and Luster Metallic Rub On

Dies: MFT Stitched Rectangles

Embellishment: Fun Stampers Journey Ribbon


Sunday, January 23, 2022

2022 Travel the World - Week 4

PLEASE NOTE: My Travel the World Card series cards are usually posted on Tuesdays, but the next four days there's going to be a special event here on my blog so I'm posting a couple of days early this week.

I started a 50-week series in 2019 that I called Travel the World. Each week of the series I visited a randomly-selected country, sharing bits of information about that country. I then chose one tidbit of information about that week's country as inspiration for a card. As I explored those 50 countries in 2019, I knew I would continue on until I've visited every one of the 195 countries in the world. By the end of 2021, I'd virtually traveled to 145 countries and plan to complete my journey to all 195 countries by visiting the last 50 this year. 

This week's country is...

Brazil

Brazil is the largest country in South America and the world's fifth largest country.

It borders all of the countries in South America except Chile and Ecuador.

Brazil is mostly a tropical country that has many geographical features in its territory, from desert to rainforest and mountain.

Brazil's name comes from the pau-brasil, Portuguese for Brazil tree, the country's national tree and a natural resource that played an important role in the economic development of the nation.

While other South American countries mainly speak Spanish, the people of Brazil speak Portuguese.

Brazilians are very optimistic about their future and always believe that tomorrow will be a better day than today.

Brazil is so big which means there is a big difference in when the sun sets across the country; therefore the country has four time zones.

There are 22 towns and cities in Brazil that have at least 500,000 people living in them.

Brazil is home to the second longest river in the world - the Amazon. The longest river in the world is the Nile.

The Amazon River is home to lots of animals including the Amazon river dolphin, electric eel and the green anaconda snake.

Some fisherman in Brazil get a bit of help from a herd of well-known bottlenose dolphins. In Laguna, a friendly pod of bottlenose dolphins herd fish toward local fishermen. The dolphins then use a series of tail slaps to signal for the fishermen to throw their nets in the water. This impressive collaboration dates back to at least 1847.

Brazil is home to a wide range of animals, including armadillo, tapirs, jaguars and pumas.

There are more species of monkeys in Brazil than in any other nation.

An island in Brazil called Snake Island has up to 5 snakes per square meter. Civilians are not allowed to visit the island.

Human activities such as logging, mining fishing and agriculture are important to the Brazilian economy but are also a serious threat to Brazil's diverse environment.

About 60% of the Amazon Rainforest is in Brazil.

The world's largest swamp is also in Brazil, known as the Pantanal Wetlands. It encompasses 70,000 square miles.

Brazil has the world's longest stretch of continuous coastline - 4655 miles.

There are approximately 70 uncontacted tribes in Brazil.

After the United States, Brazil has the second largest population of Christians in the world.

Brazilians value family and social connections. Friendship and hospitality are some of the key traits that the local people look for among themselves.

It is a ritual in Brazil for boys to bear the pain from Bullet Ants before they are declared adults. Their hands are put in gloves filled with these ants. Boys are required to withstand the pain for at least 10 minutes, and they have to pass this test 20 times before being declared adults.

The most popular type of music Brazilians listen to is the ‘Brazilian funk.’ The music has a constant and repeated beat, which never changes. Brazilians sing different songs with the beat and there are at least 1000 such songs that the countrymen couple with the beat. 

Brazil has the biggest carnival in the world. People take to the streets of Rio de Janeiro to enjoy dancing, music and parades in incredible carnival outfits. As many as 6 million people participate each year.

The largest free rock concert ever had 4.2 million attendees. It was held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and featured a performance by Rod Stewart.

Brazil is home to the largest population of Japanese people outside of Japan.

Millions of tourists visit Brazil every year.

Corcovado is a mountain in central Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is known worldwide for the 125 feet tall statue of Jesus atop its peak, entitled Cristo Redentor or “Christ the Redeemer”.

There are around 2500 airports in Brazil.

The capital city of Brasilia resembles the shape of an airplane when viewed from the air.

Brazil once listed an aircraft carrier for sale on eBay.

Brazil has the tenth-largest railway and third-largest roadway network in the world.

The most popular name in Brazil is Silva.

Feijoada  is often considered a national dish in Brazil, especially Rio de Janeiro. It is made from black beans, pork and beef stewed together.

Brazil is by far the world’s largest producer and exporter of coffee, accounting for 30% of the world’s production. 

The country has been the world’s largest exporter of coffee for 150 years.

Brazil is the leading producer of oranges in the world, which amounts to 30% of the world’s total output.

Interestingly, Bolivia, not Brazil, is the main exporter of Brazil Nuts.

Rubber made Brazil a wealthy nation during the late 18th century.

The world's highest vertical cemetery is The Memorial Necrópole Ecumênica, in Santos, Brazil. It stands 355 feet tall.

The Brazilian football (soccer) team has won the world cup a record 15 times.

The only national football team to have never lost to Brazil is Norway. They played four matches; two were played to a draw, while the other two were won by the Norwegian team.

Use of cell phones in banks is prohibited in Brazil in an effort to prevent robbery and theft.

The largest amount of money stolen from a bank by robbers occurred on Aug. 6-7, 2005, in Fortaleza, Brazil, according to the Guinness Book of World Records. A gang of up to 10 people dug a 256-foot long tunnel to seize five containers of currency estimated at nearly $70 million.

My inspiration for this week's card is based on this fact about Brazil... Brazilian prisoners are allowed to reduce their sentence by four days for every book they read. Prisoners can also pedal a stationary bicycle in the prison to provide electricity to a nearby town, thus reducing their sentence by a few days.



Thanks for stopping by my blog today!

Stamp/Die Set: Fun Stampers Journey Love Bandit stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black Ink and colored with Copic Markers

Paper: Neenah 110# Solar White and SU Real Red CS

Dies: Impression Obsession Crazy Stitched Set, MFT Stitched Rectangles, and Simon Says Sentiment Labels