Skip to content

Liberate Your Art

  • by

Liberate-your-Art-2012-Button-125x125

Last year I read with interest about Kat Sloma's Liberate Your Art project, but didn't do anything about participating. This year I signed up early, but let the printing of the postcards sit on the back burner for too long. I finally ordered 4 different prints from Zazzle, and I have to say their customer service has been wonderful. Nonetheless, the order came in two parts, and I was nervous enough that I got the first set in the mail to Kat before the rest arrived. The very next day, of course, the remaining postcards arrived here. In the end, I'm happy with the photo that I sent along with a greeting from my garden. 

Postcardsw

Kat has over 150 participants in this year's swap. I can't imagine trying to organize all those packages, but I'll be excited to get my postcards from other participants when I get home from our road trip. I made a card for Kat, and wrote a note thanking her for doing this. Now I have three sets of postcards I can use for thank-you notes or encouragement notes. I would never have done this without the push a new project gave me.

LiberateYourArtCard

Almost all the products on this card are from Papertrey Ink. The exceptions are the patterned paper from Teresa Collins' World Traveler paper pack, and the camera stamp from Studio Calico.

We're having too good a time to spend much time trying to edit photos, but rest assured there are a lot of cute baby photos to come!

Extending Sympathy

  • by

I've recently had two occasions to send sympathy cards. One to a friends whose mother passed away, and another to Sarah's mother-in-law who lost her father last week. Both of the deceased were in their 90's, and both were ready to go. Nonetheless, it is always hard to be the ones left behind. I know that they have many happy memories to help ease the loss.

WithSympathy

I actually created this card for one of the challenges in an online class, "Stretch Your Stamps." I've only seen one or two days worth of the wonderful videos in this class, so I'll be working on it again in the fall. The stamp is one of my Hero Arts cling stamps that doesn't get enough use.

SympathyCard

Once again Lovely Layers came to the rescue. This stamp set seems destined for a record number of uses. It looks so different depending on the colors you use. I also used my new PTI Impression Plate, "Stripes," which will also see a lot of use. Both cards used a sentiment from Botanical Silhouettes (PTI). 

Summer Scavenger Hunt Link-up

  • by

It's time for the mid-summer link up for Rinda's scavenger hunt. I'm nearly finished and you can find my previous posts here,  here, and here. Last week, I got one of the three final photos:  border. Actually I got a lot of different shots as we waited on the bridge to get into Canada.

7.26BorderSignw

Here's the official Boundary Sign about three-quarters of the way across the bridge.

LineOfCarsw

We frequently have a long wait to get back into the states, but this was an unusual sight approaching Canada, espcially on a Thursday morning.

Flagsw

There was a slight drizzle that morning and you can see the raindrops on the window. The U.S. flag was flying at half-staff in honor of the victims in the horrible Aurora shooting.

Passportsw

We got out our passports as we approached the inspection booth. The bright red cover was given to me by a friend for my birthday one year. We travel to Canada together at least twice a year.

Inspectionw

WelcomeSignw

And finally, the welcome sign once we were through the inspection station.

We were on our way to Niagara-on-the-Lake for the day. My brother was visiting and had never been there. We knew he'd like the Irish Harp for lunch, and we visited some of our favorite wineries. We both brought back a few bottles of our favorites.

Shopsw

The town itself is charming, and we walked off our lunch with a stroll down the main street.

DaneTracyw

Two of my favorite guys!

Happy Birthday, Sarah!

  • by

SarahCalebw

Today is Sarah's birthday, and I would typically be feeling rather sorry for myself that I am so far away on her special day, but a week from today we'll be heading out to meet Sarah, Adam, and Caleb in Atlanta. Sarah and Adam are involved in a Fund for Theological Education conference there, and we are happily babysitting while they are busy at the conference. When they finish, we're all off to Hilton Head for five days, so I am sending birthday wishes across the country today, but don't have long before I can present them in person!

Her package was sent by UPS, and ended up taking much longer to deliver than I expected, so I made an extra card (forgot to photograph the one in the package) so she'd have something to open on her birthday.

SarahBD

I've seen so many lovely cards made with the Daydreamer set by Papertrey that I ordered it last month. I combined the sentiment and flowers from that set with the jar from Friendship Jar: Summer to create this card. The patterned paper is also Papertrey, and the card is a Memory Box card I cut down a bit.

Happy Occasion Cards

  • by

I never shared the wedding card I made for my niece. It's a close copy of one by Maille Bells that she created for the release of the Gracious Vases stamp set by Papertrey. I love the simplicity and elegance of it.

Wedding

Cardstock:  Select White ; Die: Mat Stack #5, Impression Plate: Diamonds; Stamps:  Gracious Vases and Delightful Dahias; Silk ribbon. (All by Papertrey Ink); Copic Glitter pens; Clear Dimensional Magic.

Last week we attended a baptism and luncheon for a friend of ours almost three year old son. I didn't want to do a religious card, but wanted something I thought he'd enjoy.

Shine

Cardstock: Select White and Summer Sunrise (Papertrey); patterned paper: Summer Sunrise pack (Papertrey); stamps: Clear & Simple & Lighten Up Sentiments (Papertrey)

Purging and Creating

  • by

I've been on another purging expedition in my studio, and have made some remarkable progress in handing off some supplies that I've had for just too long to a friend who is delighted to get them. In the process, I've done some reorganization as well. As I was going through the embellishment drawer I came across a couple of tags I thought would make quick and easy cards.

Hello

The tag is from American Crafts (Amy Tangerine). I die cut a circle from the Nestabilities Small Circles dies, tied a Pink Hibiscus ribbon (PTI), and attached it to a ready-made Paper Source card.

(This card is off to a friend who was diagnosed with a brain tumor last week. I saw her yesterday, and was amazed at her positive spirits. She's been feeling nauseous for over a year, and seeing specialist after specialist. Finally her new GI sent her for an MRI and this is what they found. The expectation is that surgery will occur early next week, but they won't know for sure until further tests are completed today. She's the second of my very good friends to have received this diagnosis in the last six months. I find that really hard to believe. My other friend is stable right now. Her tumor was inoperable, but they were able to shrink it with radiation.) 

AnniversaryFlower

One of the things that got reorganized during the purge were the non-PTI acyrlic stamps and cling stamps that were housed in a notebook. I now have them in CD boxes on my shelf and can easily flip through them so I'm sure they'll see a lot more use. I stamped the background on this Hero Arts kraft card with the chevron background stamp (Hero Arts). The tag is another one by American Craft (Amy Tangerine). I cut another circle with the Nestabilities and a double ended banner from Papertrey. The sentiment is from Everyday Sayings (Hero Arts) and the ribbon is from my stash. It's hard to tell in the photo, but the little gems are heart-shaped (A Muse).

July Papertrey Ink Blog Hop

  • by

I got involved in another purging episode in my studio last night, so luckily I was up earlier enough this morning to get a couple of (needed) cards made for the Papertrey Ink Blog Hop. In August, I'll be on the road when the Blog Hop comes, so I didn't want to miss this one.

Here's the beautiful inspiration piece. 

BlogHopJuly

It's just perfect for the new Sweet Life stamp set, but I don't have that, so I used Rosie Posie for the first card.

JulyBlogHop2

For some reason the Berry Sorbet looks more like Pure Poppy in the photo, but not IRL. I used Dawn McVey's video from Stamp-a-Faire to tie the bow. 

The next card is my favorite of the two, and uses one of my all-time favorite stamp sets:  Lovely Layers.

JulyBlogHop1

All the supplies except the ready-made tag are from Papertrey Ink. I really need to put in an order for new inks as the Sweet Blush ink is no longer stamping images well. I had a similar problem with other ink pads last week. 

Papertrey Ink’s Stamp-a-faire: Limited Supply Challenge

  • by

Well, this was not easy as my supplies for this challenge were exceptionally limited. I don't own the right color buttons or the dotted ribbon, both of which I really needed. But I did what I could. I chose Four of a Kind for my floral stamp, and used the colors given: Hawaiian Shores, Select White, and Simply Chartreuse.

Smile1

After I took this photo, I decided this card really had to have some embellishment. Lacking buttons I had some rhinestones that were very close to Hawaiian Shores. I'm happier with this version.

Smile2

Papertrey Ink’s Stamp-a-faire: Make & Take

  • by

I was hoping I'd had lots of crafting time today, but it hasn't turned out that way. Today is the Papertrey Ink Stamp-a-faire with loads of inspiration and videos for projects. Fortunately we have until Monday to get projects completed and uploaded. Although we'll be at a baptism and luncheon tomorrow, I'm hoping to get some serious crafting time in the late afternoon and evening. But I did get the Make & Take project done this morning. The card Nichole posted used Raspberry Fizz ink and cardstock—one of my favorites, but my ink pad is no longer making good impressions, even with reinking, so I had to go to another pink. I don't have the new floral set (yet) so I went to one I haven't used in a long time: Beautiful Blooms II.

PTIMake&Take

Creating a background isn't something I do often either. It took me awhile to figure out placement, but I'm happy with it. The vellum strip is scored at the top and bottom, and the sentiment is from In Bloom. I'm off to see if I can get another project done before I need to finish up the dinner plans for company tonight.

Summer Scavenger Hunt

  • by

I'm making good progress with the Rinda's Summer Scavenger Hunt, although not quite a good as Amy! Here are a few more:

7.18BocceBallB&Ww

#14 Bocce Ball at the church picnic last night

Basketballw

More ball playing at the picnic

Fife&Drumw

#7 A fife and drum group practicing in the park

Musiciansw

A group playing at the Farmer's Market this afternoon

Hammockw

#20 A hammock (I love the ivy that climbs up our friends' trees and frames this hammock.)

Shadow2w

#11 Our shadows as we went on our walk

Libraryw

#13 Our library stacks

MoviePosterw

#18 A movie poster (The only movie we've seen this summer.)

I have just three more photos to take, and I'm expecting to find them before summer's end. I have more than one for several prompts, and I think I'll continue to collect them as I see them. I have an idea for a project at the end, and multiples will work just fine.

Weekend Recap

  • by

It might seem a bit late for a weekend recap, but our weekend really ran Saturday to Monday. We went camping at Keuka State Park with our good friends, Bob and Cathy. (Warning:  it's a heavy photo post with several new scaventer hunt photos included.) We started our weekend at Lloyd's in Penn Yan for lunch, and then drove to the camp ground and pitched our tents.

Campsitew

PicnicTable

Before dinner we went to a darling Farmer's Market to get some sweet corn . . .

7.14Freshw

and then off to find the Garrett Memorial Chapel which is hidden in the woods on the bluff overlooking Keuka Lake.

ChapelW

Weathervanew

ChurchDoorsw

(Another chapel for #17 on the scavenger hunt)

Stairway_w

(# 19 an outdoor stairway)

Plaquew

(#6 a historical landmark)

View_w

The view of the lake from the chapel

Although we've camped here before we never knew about the chapel. We returned Sunday morning and attended the service there. The chapel seats about 100, and I'd guess there were 75-80 people there. Photos of the interior are prohibited, but it's very beautiful and has a series of Tiffany stained glass windows. 

We cooked steaks for dinner and had a campfire Saturday night. By Sunday morning it had started to drizzle. It continued all day long, sometimes raining steadily. It didn't deter us from having a great time. After church, we had an excellent breakfast at the Antique Inn.

AntiqueInnw

 After brunch (it was nearly noon by the time we finished), we visited a couple of our favorite wineries and brought home some new wines to try.

RoosterHill

Musician

At Rooster Hill, they had live music on the porch. (#7 on the scavenger hunt)

For several years now, Tracy has wanted to go to the Curtiss Museum in Hammondsport. It turns out Glenn Curtiss was one of the most influential and important pioneers in aviation. The museum is filled with interesting artifacts. Curtiss initially was interested in bicycles, then motorcycles. He started to develop engines for motorcycles, which then led to the interest in airplanes.

Musuemw

By the time we finished at the museum, the rain had cleared and we headed back to the campsite for dinner.

Dinnerw

Afterwards, we went down to the lake for the sunset, and then called it a night after roasting marshmallows for S'Mores.

Sunsetw

After breaking camp and breakfast in Penn Yan, Tracy and I headed to the outlets. We bought some 12 mo. clothes for Caleb who is growing by leaps and bounds, and I picked up a couple of new shirts and a pair of shorts at Eddie Bauer. The prompt for the Photo of the Day just happened to be ice cream, so we stopped at the new Pittsford Dairy for an ice cream cone, which turned out to be plenty for lunch. 

PittsfordDairyw

7.16IceCreamw

I've spent the better part of yesterday and today editing photos in Lightroom from the weddings we attended and our camping weekend. I opened a trial account at SmugMug so I could create albums to share with family and am very impressed with how easy it is, and how nicely everything is arranged. (With almost no effort on my part!)

Take Twelve: July

  • by

A very quick post before we leave to go camping for the weekend. The forecast for the next three days says temps in the 90's so I don't think we'll get cold. Hopefully our camp site will have some shade!

Here's this month's Take Twelve layout. The teal patterned paper is a bit dull in the photo, but nothing I could do in PSE quickly seemed to help it much. 

Layout7.12
The journaling reads:

My day started a bit later than usual and one of the first jobs was to make a new To Do List. I love these Knock Knock pads with the four quadrants. I had an early appointment for my first complete opthamology appointment in several years. I got a great report and don’t need to go back for two years.

The big tasks for the day involved getting ready to host our three-table duplicate bridge group. Some of us have been playing together for 39 years. It’s a fun, social bridge group which is a good thing for us since we don’t play very often.

When I brought some fresh oregano in to chop for the tortilla roll-ups a little ladybug came along. Once I rescued her, I got it all chopped with my Ulu, certainly the most useful souvenir I bought last summer in Alaska. 

The pile of books are this week’s haul from the library. I read The World Without You in just two days—the perfect summer read. I’ve started Gold, and we used the national parks books to help plan our time at Rocky Mountain National Park in August with Matt. 

I thought I’d capture our typical lunches for this month’s layout. Tracy has toast with crunchy peanut butter, yogurt, and milk every day for lunch. I’m not quite so predictable, but usually make a nice salad, and today had unsweetened iced tea.

Here's  a close-up of the bottom border. I cut out the cameras from a border on a 12X12 piece of Amy Tangerine scrapbook paper that I used on a layout previously.

BorderDetailLOw

Once again, nearly all the supplies came from the last one or two Studio Calico kits. 

Have a great weekend! Hope yours is a cool one.

 

 

Ten on the Tenth: Summer Scavenger Hunt

  • by

We were away over the Fourth and attended two weddings in two days! The tenth of July has snuck up on me once again, but thanks to the brides I have ten of Rinda's 21 items for this summer's scavenger hunt. I love this project, and hope I'll be able to find the other 11 before summer's end.

7.2CharlottePierw
#1 The Charlotte Pier on Lake Ontario

Clotheslinew

#2 The clothesline off my brother's deck

RoadsideStandw

#4 A roadside stand on the way to my friend, Mary's house.

Trainw

#5 A train. We had just walked across the tracks on our way to the marina to watch the fireworks when the passenger train roared by!

6.20Angelw

#8 A statue of an angel in Mt. Hope Cemetery

7.5Fountainw

#9 A fountain at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, NY

Horsesw

Horsew

#10 Horse(s)–both shots taken at Mendon Ponds Park

Dancing1w

Dancing2w

#15 Someone dancing. The first photo is the bride and groom at Saturday's wedding. The second is of my brother and his daughter during the Father and Daughter dance. Both weddings were just perfect events!

Jen&Dane2w

#16 Bride #1 (the daughter of my husband's best friend)

Stephanie&Kevinw

Bride #2 (My niece, Stephanie and her husband, Kevin)

Church1w

#17 The outside of the chapel where my niece was married

Church2w

The inside of the chapel (this photo does not do justice to the stunning interior of this church.)

10-things

I'm linking this to Shimelle's Ten on the Tenth. You can find other lists here.

 

Happy Hexagons

  • by

Last week a group of us got together for lunch and a bit of crafting afterwards. I had just received my June order from Papertrey Ink so I die cut a couple sets of hexagons with the Happy Hexagon Cover Plate and went to town stamping them with different colors of ink. I had a lot of fun putting together the cards once I was done.

FriendshipHH

The sentiment is from We Go Together and the twine is from Papertrey Ink as well. Once I saw this photograph I realized I needed to put some dimensional tape behind the hexagon that covers the twine. It looks better now!

WishingYouHH

For this card, I added some Paper Source ribbon and stamped the outside and inside sentiments with Impress stamps I've had for years.

HappyBDEllie

On this card, I used the cover plate, a tag cut with one of the Half and Half dies, and embossed the birthday greeting (Inside and Out: Birthday). Then I stamped the focal point with the Lovely Layers dies and stamps. I think these set will get a lot of use!

June POTD

  • by

It's hard to believe it's July already.  When I realized how busy we'd been in June, it's no wonder the time goes flying by. I wanted to get this layout done before we leave tomorrow to spend a long weekend with my brother and attend my niece's wedding on Friday. 

JuneLO

The journaling on the homemade tag reads:

June, like most months, was busy with many commitments and social events. We saw “The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel” which we enjoyed, and GeVa’s production of “Company” which we loved. I went to a lecture by Stephen Johnson at The Eastman House, and attended a workshop on Speedlite flash attachments.

Matt was home for a long weekend over Father’s Day and we celebrated with dinner at The North Shore Grill. It was a perfect evening to sit on the deck overlooking Conesus Lake. Tracy and I had dinner for the first time at Zeppa Grill, and used our Groupon for dinner at The Wintonaire one night. We had dinner with Bill and Tina, Bob and Cathy, and Bill and Beryl. I lunched with Mary, Marie, Karen, and MaryEllen one afternoon, and had lunch with Jane, Sue Fay, and dinner with Karen. We went to Rod’s retirement dinner. 

I completed three books: “The Call,” “The Sisters Brothers,” and “Lots of Candles, Plenty of Cake.” Although I didn’t manage a layout a day as I hoped, I did complete 10 layouts, a mini-album for our Oregon trip, and made (and sent) 20 cards.

I leased a new Forester. The only new feature on it is Blue Tooth, but I’m already in love with it. I have all my music on a flash drive and can listen to any of it by using the controls in the car. A phone call automatically comes in on the speaker, no need for an ear piece. 

The Triple Play Grant committee met and I completed the interviews and site visit for the grant application from Focus On The Children. Evaluating grant proposals is definitely a new challenge, but one I ended up enjoying.

Most of the supplies for the layout came in a Studio Calico kit. The patterned papers are from Studio Calico and Basic Grey. The scalloped border I cut with the medium scallop die from Papertrey Ink. The brad is Basic Grey and the star clip came in the kit and I'm not sure of the manufacturer. The alpha is from Paper Studio.

If you're celebrating the Fourth of July, make it a safe one!