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Valentines

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It's just a week now to Valentine's Day, and typically I'd wait until then to post these, but since there are not one, but three, heartfelt challenges going on right now, I'll post them early. All of them meet the requirements for Simon Says Monday Challenge: Love Notes,

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the Simon Says Wednesday Challenge: Have a Heart,

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and finally, the Addicted to CAS challenge: LOVE.

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When I opened the January Simon Says card kit, I didn't think I'd ever use the main image, a little googly-eyed monster. Then I remembered I have a two-year old grandson who loves monsters. Tracy wonders what he'll think of it. I hope he likes it. All the materials for the card except the "Bubble Talk" dies and stamps by Papertrey Ink are from the January kit.

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I didn't think Skylar would be particulary charmed by a little monster, but I did think she'd like a shaker card. I followed the directions Laura Basson gave in her video here. It wasn't anywhere as near difficult as I expected, and I'm really pleased with it. I used the Spellbinders "Nested Hearts," and a new die from Simon Says "XOXO Border." The patterned paper is from the "Simple Valentine" paper pad by Papertrey.

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Last, a card made with my newest stamp set by a new company Winnie and Walter. As soon as I saw "The Big, The Bold, and The Happy" set I knew I get a lot of use from it. They offered free cut files with the stamp set and I used both for this card. It was really hard to photograph, but I hope you can see the beautiful metallic red paper I used to cut "happy."

Happy

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I used another new die from Simon Says for the inside sentiment.

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And since each of these cards uses a new product (#1 stamps, #2 XOXO die cut, and #3 stamps and cut file), I'm linking up to the new Simon Says: Work It Wednesday Challenge: use something new.

Thanks for stopping by!

Frugal Still Life: Week 5

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Cheryl McCain comes up with a new and interesting challenge every week for Frugal Still Life. I'm really enjoying this class. Still life is something that has always interested me, but I haven't taken the necessary time to explore it. I've had a book on my Kindle Still Life Photography by Kevin Best for over a year now, but haven't even started it. I'm quite sure I'll get to it once this class ends. This week's challenge was to explore complementary colors. As soon as I read the lesson, I knew I'd get out this beautiful blue bowl Sarah brought me from Mexico and fill it with tangerines. I picked up a dish towel at Target the other day which made a nice background. As usual, I played around with different perspectives, and I'm always interested in which ones appeal to you.

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Here's what the set-up looked like this week. I was back in the kitchen for good light, and used a little black board I purchased as a backdrop for photographing cards to drap the kitchen towel.

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Watching the snow . . .

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I was just sitting at the computer and looked over to see the snow falling and blowing once again. A winter storm watch has been in effect since last night at 10:00. It wasn't too bad early this morning when I ventured out to an ENT appointment, but by noon when I met a friend for lunch the driving had gotten pretty dicey. I'm glad to say I'm home with no intentions of going out again until at least noon tomorrow. Depending on how long this lasts, it may be longer!

I wasn't able to catch the blowing snow (so much more dramatic) from my studio window, but I did decide that the scene made an appropriate Zoom In, Zoom Out subject for Helena's meme.

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Ali Edwards Photo template

I've spent quite a bit of time this week working on my December Project Life layouts. Given our schedule this year, it's turning out to be quite a few pages! I thought I ought to get the November ones posted (they've been done except for the journaling for ever so long), before I start sharing the December ones. I must say it's a joy to work in a cleaned-out, well-organized studio. All that hard work really paid off.

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I used the same Ali Edwards photo template on this layout as the Zoom In, Zoom Out to show the extremes in weather we had in November. The circles at the top of the title were stamped with a Pink Paislee "Sentiment Series." I inked the wood veneer leaves directly on the stamp pad.

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Page two documents Thanksgiving. The two top pockets on the right-hand side were originally one large photo collage that I cut apart. I'm not sure who created the collage. A long time ago I separated a lot of my digital photo templates into folders by the number of photos they hold. It works well except not all of them have the designer information still attached to them.

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The digital stamp on the bottom left photo is from Paislee Press, and the photo template with the pictures of Skylar is on of Cathy Zielske's "Labeled Photo" sets.

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Hope to be back tomorrow with this week's Frugal Still Life.

Frugal Still Life: Week 4

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Cheryl bumped up the challenge this week at Frugual Still Life with a post about metering modes, and asked us to capture some images changing the metering mode. I had to look up where to find the metering mode in the metadata in Lightroom, so right off the bat I learned something important. I forgot to take a shot of the set up this week. I used the cutting board and black board I use for taking shots of my cards in the studio window. It gets the same northern light as the windows in the kitchen, but there's just one window instead of three, so there's not as much light.

For the subject I chose three old volumes that sit stacked on the bookcase in our bedroom, and a watch that belonged to my maternal grandmother. She died before my parents were married, and I don't have much that belonged to her. For many years, I was able to keep the watch in working order, and wore it on special occasions. In some of the photos, you can see the beautiful opal clasp that slides up and down the chain. The watch no longer works, but it's one of my treasures.

My Canon Rebel 4Ti has four metering modes:

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-1 EV, Pattern metering mode, Tamron 18-270 lens

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-1 EV, Partial metering mode, Tamron 18-270 lens

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 -1 EV, Spot metering mode, Tamron 18-270 lens

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-1 EV, Center-weight metering mode, Tamron 18-270 lens

I also wanted to play around with perspective a bit.

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And finally, Cheryl gave us some textures to play around with. I haven't played with textures in ages, and it's not something I find very intuitive. Here's one with her Volume 3 texture.

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I think I used the Overlay blending mode, but I forgot to write it down.

Then I tried a Kim Klassesn texture that was quite a bit lighter. Again, I'm not sure what blending mode I used, even though I had a notebook right next to me!

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I'm pretty fond of the one with Cheryl's texture, but overall I'm happy with most of the images. I don't see a huge difference in the different metering modes, but maybe I'm just not looking carefully enough. 

Stenciled with Some Challenges

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The Online Card Classes are always excellent, and "Stenciled" is no exception. It's been a long times since I used stencils on a card, but I've had them on hand for awhile, and recently purchased a few new ones. In addition to many techniques using stencils, I've picked up some other handy card-making tips as well. These classes are always well worth the fee!

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My first card uses a Simon Says stencil that came with one of the monthly card kits. I used a mist to create the stenciled pattern. I'll be linking this card up with Simon Says Wednesday Challenge: use twine or string, and the Addicted to CAS: Love. 

ATCAS - code word love

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I cut a double tag because I had this darling vellum with tiny hearts on it that I wanted to use. The vellum alone just didn't look right so I backed it with a pink cardstock tag. It's still hard to see the hearts in the photograph, but they're there.

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The next two cards meet the new Addicted to CAS challenge: Love as well. The first one was made with a DIY stencil. I used a Papertrey Ink coaster and die cut it with the Tic Tac Toe die from Simon Says. I wanted to create rather thick hearts using embossing paste.

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Here's the card:

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Although I let the embossing paste dry for well over an hour, it still must have been damp because I got some bubbles in the hearts when I embossed them. (Jennifer did warn us about this!) The hearts were covered with red Zing embossing powder. Here's a close look at the dimension. 

The last card for the Addicted to CAS challenge: Love used Gesso and the Falling Hearts stencil by Simon Says. I stayed with white on white for this one and cut down a vellum envelope for the stamped heart that I cut out by hand. I finished it off with a strip of patterned paper and a Doodlebug heart pearl. 

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Here's a peek at the inside of this card.

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I created the last card for this week's challenge at CAS(e) This Sketch:

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I masked off the diagonal stripe with post-it notes and used three different Distress Inks to ink up the Tim Holtz "Bubble Stencil." Then I laid down two thin strips of cardstock along each edge. (Another trick I learned from Jennifer McGuire in an earlier Online Card Class.) The sentiment was embossed in gold and I added two flat sequins by Kelly Purky.

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Although I meant to use a slightly different technique on this card, I like how it turned out. I'll try out that technique next time.

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It's been fun to have a day to watch class videos and play at my desk. The great purge turns out to have added benefit—I found all kinds of supplies I'd forgotten about, and I knew just where to find them!

Card Recipes:

Card #1:
Cardstock: Neenah Select, and pink from the scrap folder, vellum from stash
Stencil: "Moroccan" (Simon Says)
Mist: Creme de Rouge (Tattered Angels)
Dies: Vine Border, Tremendous Tags, & Double-ended Border (trimmed down) (Papertrey Ink), "You" (Simon Says)
Stamp: "You" (Simon Says)
Twine: Valentine collection (Doodlebug)
Pink pearl: Michaels

Card#2:
Cardstock: Select White & Pure Poppy (PTI), silver (Paper Source)
Stamp: "Celebrate Everyday" (Hero Arts)
Embossing powders: Zing (American Craft), silver (B Muse)

Card #3:
Cardstock: Select White & Pure Poppy (PTI)
Patterned Paper: Simple Valentine (PTI)
Vellum envelope: Impress
Stencil: "Falling Hearts" (Simon Says)
Heart pearl: Doodlebug
Die (inside card): Nested Hearts (Spellbinders)

Cartd#4:
Cardstock:  Select White and Orange Zest (PTI)
Stencil: "Bubble" (Tim Holtz)
Stamp: "Fresh Florals" (WPlus9)
Sequins: Kelly Purkey

 

 

Two Birthday Cards

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It was finally a bit warmer today, and I took advantage of it to visit a friend in rehab, have lunch with Matt, and get some errands run. Tomorrow I hope to get to my crafting table now that I'm back in business. I did need a couple of birthday cards during the great purge and thought I'd share two of them.

One of my best friends had her birthday soon after we returned from Florida. I wanted to give her a cheerful, springy card to ward off the chill of our January.

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I used a combination of stamps and dies on this card. One of my favorite floral sets is WPlus9's "Fresh Florals," and the coordinating dies. The mason jar was stamped on clear cardstock, and fussy cut with a bit of blue stamping behind it for the water. The shadow from folded banner hides that in the photograph. Here's a peek at the inside. 

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The sentiments in Papertrey's "Stylish Sentiments: Birthday" are among my favorites.

The next card was for one of our male friends. As soon as I get this posted, I'll be making a similar card for another of our friends who has a birthday next week. This one was cased from one of my favorite card makers, Laurie Willison.

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This has to be one of the most versatile designs ever. Just changing the patterned paper and cardstock colors would make it work for either gender and any age.

The rest of the supplies I needed for the Stenciled class arrived today. I have the whole day free tomorrow though the gym has really missed me for the last two weeks, but I hope to be back this weekend with some cards inspired by the class.

Card Recipes
Birthday Wishes:
Cardstock: Select White and Spring Rain (PTI)
Stamps: Fresh Florals (WPlus9), Friendship Jar Fillers Summer (PTI), Stylish Birthday Sentiments (PTI)
Dies: Fresh Florals (WPlus9), Small Folded Banners (Simon Says)

Happy Birthday:
Cardstock: Classic Kraft,Vintage Cream (PTI)
Patterned Paper: February 2013 Card Kit (Studio Calico)
Dies: Tag Sale #5 (PTI), Happy (Simon Says)
Brad from stash

 

OLW: Simplify and Zoom In, Zoom Out

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It’s the end of the month, and time to evaluate my progress with my OLW:  Simplify. I’m not taking Ali’s course, but I am planning to assess my progress at the end of each month. We were away for the first 13 days of January, so I didn’t have the whole month to work on my projects. Nonetheless, I am really pleased with my progress. This is a wordy post, so you might want to grab a cup of tea before you get started.

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My number one intention for the year of Simplifying is to purge and organize. In addition to taking the class “A Simple Year,” I enrolled in the BPC “Organizing Fundamentals,” after consulting with Cheri who had taken a similar course several years ago. We’re only mid-way through the course, but I am nearly done purging and organizing my studio. The first directive was to totally empty your craft space. I must admit I was taken aback by that, but over the course of the last two weeks I have removed nearly everything from my studio and closet. I did not, however, leave it all in our guest room. After sorting it into boxes “Donate,” “Store,” and “Keep” I brought what I wanted to keep back into the studio. I was already pretty well organized. I just needed to purge. I’ve been paper crafting for nearly 20 years, and being on a design team for two years also increased my stash a lot. My goal was to eliminate 50% of my stash, and although I have no scientific proof, I believe I’ve done better than that.  So here is my Zoom In, Zoom Out for Week 5:

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Zoom Out:

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After I decided what to donate, I organized it all by type (something I also do in my studio and is recommended by the class). One of my friends came by this afternoon, and took all the ribbon and some sheets of patterned paper she needed for a project. Another friend took all the 6X6 paper pads I was eliminating, and a third friend comes tomorrow to go through the stash. Whatever is left, I will take to a lovely shop that resells craft supplies. The profits are then given to a variety of charities. 

Another intention this year was to read four books each month. I finished five this month. 

StillWriting

Several years ago, I read a memoir and a novel by Dani Shapiro, both of which I enjoyed. Although I am not a writer, this book was filled with wisdom that applies to any creative endeavor. The most important thing I took away from it was a determination to work on a project for 60-90 minutes each morning BEFORE I check email or read blogs. It’s been a very effective change in my routine. 

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I read this in Florida, and it was the perfect light reading for a vacation. It's the tale of a man with obsessive compulsive traits attempts to find  the perfect wife.

Round house

This was our book group's choice for January and the first book I’ve ever finished (but not the first I’ve started) by Louise Erdrich. I loved it. It’s a compelling tale interspersed with Native American lore and law (some of it shocking). I’m now reading her "The Plague of Doves" which features some of the same characters, but I’m finding it more difficult. "The Round House" is told by a single narrator, and "The Plague of Doves" goes back and forth between narrators as well as back and forth in time. Much more difficult.

Flora

I’ve enjoyed several other novels by Gail Godwin, and I enjoyed this one. It’s a well-written story of a young girl and the woman who has been hired to take care of her for a summer during World War II–a story of love, regret, and lack of understanding. It will stay with me for awhile.

Joy of less

And finally, "The Joy of Less." This was recommended by Alexa a long time ago. I started it, but didn’t finish it. This time I read it cover to cover, and it helped me tremendously in purging my studio without guilt. I’ll never be a minimalist, but I will definitely be using the principles outlined here as I work my way through the house this year. The focus for the class “A Simple Year” in January was decluttering. In addition to the studio, I’ve decluttered my car, the bookcase in our bedroom, my earring collection and my nightstand.

For photography, I’m working on the first challenge in The Visual Toolbox, and keeping up with Zoom In, Zoom Out, and Frugal Still Life. 

I walked just 22 miles this month, and finally got back to my routine in the gym only to be sidelined by tendonitus in my elbow. I’m on a anti-inflammatory for two weeks, using a brace, and not allowed to do any weight-lifting. It’s beginning to feel better, but I only have one more week to go. If the issue’s not resolved, the next step is a cortisone shot and two more weeks away from the weights. I’m being good, but it’s frustrating.

I only managed one card making challenge this month, but have completed nine cards, most of which will show up here on the blog in the next week or so. I'm hoping to catch up with the Online Card Class, "Stenciled" this weekend. I’ve also finished my November Project Life pages and have two December ones done. All in all, I feel like I’ve done more in the last 17 days to honor this year's intentions than I did all of last year. Let’s hope I can keep it up!

Zoom In, Zoom Out: Week 4

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I'm back with this week's pairing for Helena's Zoom In, Zoom Out. A few mornings ago, I looked over at our bedroom window at the beautiful patterns the frost made, and decided it might make a great pair of photos. Today I walked in with my camera just as the sun made it's appearance. Perfect timing.

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You can see from the Zoom Out why the ice has an orange cast.

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Between this meme and the Frugal Still Life class, I'm always thinking about what subjects might make for an interesting photograph. I'm slowly working on my photography project for 2014 as well, but my work on my One Little Word "Simplify" is occupying most of my free time!

Frugal Still Life: Week 3

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This week Cheryl had a guest photographer at Frugal Still Life who shared her set-up as well as a beautiful still life composition. Cheryl challenged us to work on a similar composition with three items. At this time of year, I regularly buy flowers at the grocery store to brighten the long winter days. I had these lovely white astromeria on the dining room table, and decided on a still life around three white items. I found (and ironed!) a beautiful hand-embroidered tablecloth that belonged to my mother as the backdrop. If you look closely you can see a bit of the beautiful stitching. Here are a variety of shots. As always, I'm interested to know which shot you prefer.

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Here's what the set-up looked like. I draped the tablecloth over a piece of folded white board on our kitchen table. This is the only room in the house that gets good light even though it's a northern exposure. 

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January 2014 Papertrey Blog Hop and Stenciled!

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Last week was one of the busiest weeks ever, and I totally forgot that today was the 25th and the Papertrey Ink Blog Hop. Before I left for Dining Room Ministry this morning I got this card started, and finished it when I returned. I combined one of the techniques from the Online Card Class "Stenciled" Day 1 with the blog hop inspiration. The very first day of class featured several techniques for using stencils, and I have tried almost none of them. It's going to be a great class.

Here's the inspiration piece for the Papertrey Blog hop. The charge was to create a card using just a variety of pinks. Neutrals like white, black and silver are allowed.

Pti January Blog Hop

I first cut a mask with my Spellbinders Nested hearts, and used it to apply both Spun Sugar and Picked Raspberry Distress Inks over the Hero Arts "Tweed Pattern" stencil on my heart which I then die cut. 

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Next I cut the next size heart from Raspberry Fizz and layered them. I tried a variety of card bases and didn't like any of them. So finally I pulled out my Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist in Creme de Rouge. For once I got the spray just the way I wanted it. 

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The sentiment combines the stamped word "love" from Rustic Branches and a die cut "you" from Wonderful Words. A few scattered pink and silver sequins and it was done. The first of the valentines completed!

Card Recipe:
Cardstock: Select White, Raspberry Fizz (PTI)
Stencil: Tweed (Hero Arts)
Stamp: Rustic Branches (PTI)
Dies: Wonderful Words (PTI), Nested Hearts (Spellbinders)
Sequins: Michael's

Frugal Still Life: Week 2

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It's getting toward the end of Week 2 at Cheryl McCain's Frugal Still Life class. I've know all week what I wanted to use for my subject, but time is just slipping through my fingers here. Finally, today I got it all set up. 

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I've become a big fan of organic brown eggs. I looked around for the right size container to hold a dozen eggs, and decided on my berry bowl. It's navy blue on the outside, so I pulled out my handloomed table runner as a background. One of the considerations for this week was to leave some "white" or negative space in your photo. That's a technique I like quite a bit. 

I used my 18-270 Tamron lens for all the shots, and ended up with four I liked. Which one most appeals to you?

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Usually when I shoot a half shot, I have the subject on the left-hand side rather than the right-hand side. This wasn't thought through completely, and I think I'd prefer it if it were reversed.

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This top down shot might be my favorite.

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I decided on a square crop for this one.

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And here's one on the left-hand side, but with a different point of view. I have to admit I like taking the time to try a lot of different shots. These are the four I liked best, but I took quite a few more.

Die Cut Challenge & Anything Goes: Take 2

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I'm back with a second post today before the link up closes at Addicted to CAS for their Die Cut challenge. I'm also linking these up at Simon Says' Monday Challenge "Anything Goes."

Right before Christmas one of our good friends graduated with his MBA. He had a perfect 4.0 grade average, and received a number of awards. He and his wife were visiting here over Christmas, so we were able to extend congratulations in person, but I didn't have time to get a card made. It's in the mail now.

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This Bubble Talk dies make a great card, good for young people and appropriate for guys. In this case, both categories fit.

Last night we said good-bye to one of the members of our Resource and Education Committee members. Also a young person, she is leaving to become an associate pastor at a church in Pennsylvania. We had a potluck dinner and gave her a card with a gift card inside.

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Here's a closer look at one of my favorite dies:

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Card Recipes:

Graduation Card:
Cardstock: ribbed black (unknown; been in my stash for years); Orange Zest, Limeade Ice, Summer Sunrise (PTI)
Dies: Bubble Talk (PTI)
Stamps: Bubble Talk & Live, Love, Life (PTI)

Happy For You:
Cardstock: Select White, Orange Zest, Simply Chartreuse, Hawaiian Shores, Summer Sunrise, Raspberry Fizz (PTI)
Die & Stamp: Absolutely (Simon Says)

Zoom In, Zoom Out: Week 3

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I finally got time last night to edit the last of the Florida photos. Before we left Florida, Tracy, his mom, and I drove to the Everglades and took a guided boat tour. Our guide was fantastic, and I'll be back later with more photos from our trip. This will be the last colorful ZIZO for awhile as it's pretty much brown and gray here, although today was sunny with a wonderful blue sky. Winters in Rochester certainly make you appreciate the blue skies and warm weather when you get them.

Last year, we saw a squadron of white pelicans at a wildlife preserve. I got a nice group shot, but I was too far away to get a close up. Being on the boat changed that. This group was much larger, and although it's hard to tell from the photos, the white pelican is one of the larger aquatic birds. They can stand as much as 70" tall and weight up to 30 pounds. They are very impressive to see.

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Although Helena's meme is Zoom In, Zoom Out I always seem to put the Zoom Out first. 

Die Cut Challenge & Anything Goes

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We've been home just a few days, but I needed to get to the crafting table for several cards. All four of them used die cuts. I'll be posting two tonight, and two tomorrow for the Die Cut Challenge at Addicted to CAS. They'll also qualify for the Monday Challenge at Simon Says:  "Anything Goes." 

The first card was a negative die cut. Tracy needed a thank you note to send to his brother-in-law.

Thanks

Several months ago I picked up a paper pad at Michaels, not really paying attention to anything but the printed designs. It turned out to be a pad of cards which made this a quick and easy one. I've seen some folks post cards at a 10 minute dash challenge, and this would have definitely qualified! Simple and masculine.

The next card was for a friend of mine who became a grandmother on Monday. To say she's excited is to put it mildly!

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This one used a premade card as well, the last of a pack I purchased at Impress years ago. The die cuts are Nestabilities Label 11 by Spellbinders.

Card Recipes:
Thanks:
Card: MAMBI Cards (Me and My Big Idea)
Cardstock: Classic Kraft (PTI)
Die: Thanks (Memory Box)
Enamel Dots: My Minds Eye

Little One:
Card: Impress Rubber Stamps
Cardstock: Sweet Blush (PTI)
Dies: Label 11 (Spellbinders)
Stamp: Baby Button Bits (PTI)
Button: PTI
Twine: Doodlebug

Zoom In, Zoom Out: Week 2

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I managed to find several shots along the beach to Zoom In, Zoom Out, but this threesome won out for the week. Tracy and I met two fishermen on the beach. Last year, the same (I think) tri-colored heron was hanging out with some fishermen, and this year there was a pelican as well. One of the fishermen was showing Tracy a blowfish they had caught. If you look between Tracy and the fishermen, you'll see the tri-colored heron and to the left is the pelican. Then I zoomed in for two photos, one of the heron and one of the pelican.

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I suspect the next couple of weeks will be a lot less fun than I had today walking on the beach! Thanks, Helena, for a great meme. I know I'm going to love this!