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Playing with Watercolors

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As part of my OLW, COMMIT for March, I'm still playing with watercolors. Over the next three days, you'll see three cards that resulted from one afternoon session. I'm learning quite a bit: I need to work more slowly, and I'm better off with a good #4 watercolor brush. Patience, too, is important. Waiting for one section to dry before moving on is also important. All the flowers I watercolored came from the same Simon Says set, Delicate Flowers, which was part of the May 2019 card kit. 

Here's the first card, another for the birthday stash.

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I used Altenew's 36 pan watercolors for these flowers. It's one of my favorite watercolor sets for painting flowers. Almost no mixing needed since the colors are so fresh and bright.

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Because I wanted to play along with the Addicted to CAS challenge: Circle, I used a PTI Shape Shifter Circle #2 die as a backdrop for the flower. I think most CAS blogs now accept a color as the "white space" and this one is Spring Rain, also from PTI. The blue cardstock is its truest color in this photo.

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I'm entering this in the Addicted to CAS Challenge: Circle.

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The Flower Challenge: Anything Goes:

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And the AAA Birthday Game: Flowers:

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We made an early grocery store run this morning, needing to purchase a gift card for RAIHN (Rochester Interfaith Hospitality Network). My friend and I provide dinner each time our church hosts families from RAIHN. Needless to say, during this time of seclusion, we are not hosting families. We are, however, providing dinners for a family that is residing in the RAIHN apartment. We arrived just as Wegmans opened, and were pleasantly surprised to find the shelves reasonably full. A week ago there was no meat except for a few packages of hamburger, no salad dressing, no bananas . . . you get the picture. Today I was able to pick up ingredients for several of our favorite meals as well as some cleaning supplies we needed. It was relatively easy to stay appropriately distant from other shoppers, too. We go to the Wegmans flagship store which has wide aisles and ample cashiers so I feel as safe as I could be under the circumstances. We won't need to return again for at least a week, if not longer. I am a fan of fresh produce so am likely to make a quick run once every week or 10 days.

Hope you are finding good things to occupy your time. Sarah gave Tracy a 1,000 piece jigsaw puzzle for his birthday, and in three days, he's just about completed it. I'd like to say I helped, but if I put in 50 pieces that would be saying a lot. Granted, I also have not put in the time!

Stay safe!

 

 

The New Normal

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We arrived home from Wisconsin two weeks ago Sunday afternoon. By Monday morning, news of the coronavirus had become dire enough that we began cancelling all the moving parts of a planned 17 day vacation to California and Hawaii. It’s taken almost two weeks to get everything taken care of as best we can. As disappointing as it is, it pales in significance to the people whose lives have been totally disrupted and upended by the virus. My prayer list now includes all those whose livelihood is jeopardized by the closure of almost all businesses and cancellations of major events, those suffering from the virus, and the many, many health care workers and caregivers offering their skills and risking their lives to those who are ill.

We have gone from one confirmed case of the virus in our county last week to a total of forty-six this afternoon. The governor of New York and our local officials have moved swiftly and consistently to the current situation where people involved in non-essential services/businesses are required to stay home. We are allowed to leave our homes to get groceries, go to the pharmacy, and take a walk—as long as we stay appropriately distant from anyone we encounter. It’s all transpired so quickly. A week ago Thursday night, my interfaith book group met here. No one would consider such a meeting today.

On Monday we felt comfortable walking outside with Matt and the girls, but now even that level of contact is gone. We cancelled Tracy’s birthday dinner celebration, and are relying on video contacts now even though they live just over a mile away.

Walks are the saving grace. It’s good to get out of the house once a day, and we’re accumulating steps in numbers we haven’t seen in a long time.

We try to find a new route each day. Monday it was the Brickyard Trail with the girls.

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Betsy had given Skylar (8) and Ella (5) a list of 10 things to look for on their walk. All the schools in New York are closed indefinitely, and both of my children are now homeschooling their children. Sarah is also trying to work from home, so it's a challenge. Her church (as well as ours) is also closed indefinitely, but both churches are providing worship experiences for their congregations online. Our church is live streaming a service each Sunday. My Lenten Study Group met via Google Meet on Tuesday.

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Maddy (3) walked part way, and rode part way.

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The end of the trail.

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On Wednesday, we walked the Erie Canal path from the Jewish Community Center to the lock on Clover Street.

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Not a sign of spring on this walk. You can see the lock in the distance.

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Thursday, we took our longest walk. We walked to Mt. Hope Cemetery. Frederick Douglass (famous abolitionist) and Susan B. Anthony (women’s rights activist) are both buried here.

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Yesterday the temperature was in the 60’s, and we took an early walk before the high winds and rain began. The high today is not quite 30°.

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There were, however, some signs of spring walking through the city neighborhoods.

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It’s taken me some time to adjust to the new normal, and get productive. I finally made a list early this week of creative projects to work on and as part of my OLW, COMMIT, decided that working on two different projects each day would be a good start. So far, so good, so there will be some blog posts coming more regularly now.

 

 

Five in Five & the OLW March Editions

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Today's the fifth of March, and for once, I am ready with my Five in Five photos for Sandie's meme. The task is to take as many photos as you can (or want) in five minutes and post just five of them. Knowing I needed to publish my intentions for March, I thought I'd photograph some of what I've been working on while we're visiting Sarah. My creative intention this month is to spend some time exploring watercolors. One way I'm doing it, is with this book:

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I've purchased other books on watercolors, but this is the best one, by far! I've read and reread some of the introductory pages, and just started some of the exercises. Here's one of the first:

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The author recommends buying a set of student grade watercolors, but I've owned some Daniel Smith, professional grade watercolors for a long time. The next exercise requires some mixing, and it will probably take me some time to figure out the "recipes" for the specific colors we're going to need for later lessons. The smaller palette in this photo was a recent purchase the bottom six wells were prefilled with colors I didn't own, and I filled the top three with new colors I'd recently bought.

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I discovered this lovely brush and pen holder on a calligraphy blog I follow, and it's perfect for traveling.

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After playing around yesterday, and throwing out quite a few experiments that didn't pan out, I had an urge to paint something that could eventually become a card. This lovely hydrangea by Gina K fit the bill.

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I"m also watching some Altenew videos in watercolor classes I've subscribed to and never finished. So there's the five in five and the major intention for March.

In addition, I'll be trying to finish one book from my unread shelves. I'm in the midst of Lenten devotional reading (Lent in Plain Sight: A Devotion Through Ten Objects and The Hope of Glory: Reflections on the Last Words of Jesus from the Cross) as well as reading two library books, so I'll be grateful to get just one book off the unread shelf. And because I enjoyed the photo-a-day project last month, I'm planning to continue that as well. 

OLW: Commit-February Recap

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I'm really enjoying setting intentions on a monthly basis. For February, I started out with four, and added a fifth shortly after the month began.

  1. Complete the Simplified Photos class: I watched all the videos. Frankly, I knew 85-90% of the material presented. I did learn about a new iPhone app called Color Story. No surprise to me, I already had it on my phone and had never used it. I’ll be giving it a try, but most of the time I upload the photos to my computer and edit them in Lightroom and/or Photoshop Elements.

        2. Take a photo-a-day. Accomplished! Here are 29 of them; there were several more.

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It's a good mix of wintery photos, home activities, a couple family events, and quite a few wildlife photos which surprises me some. 

  1. Complete the Colored Pencil: Jumpstart class. Also done; I learned a lot in this class and will be applying what I learned over many months. I started a sketchbook for practice images some of which I’ll probably use for cards.
  1. Read one book for the Unread Shelf Project. I finished five books in February and three of them were from my unread shelves: Tender at the Bone: Growing Up at the Table, A Pilgrimage to Eternity: From Canterbury to Rome in Search of a Faith, and Hashtag Authentic: Be Your Best Creative Self via Your Instagram Online Presence.

Tender          Hashtag      Pigrimage

I enjoyed all of them, but I particularly liked Timothy Eagan’s A Pilgrimage to Eternity which includes among many other things, a wonderful history of Christianity and Europe—much of which I didn’t know well. I also got a lot out of Hashtag Authentic. I don’t post much on Instagram, but much of the information in the book was a wonderful refresher about photographing the mundane and the everyday.

In addition to the unread shelf books, I read two new books I borrowed from the library Hill Women: Finding Family and a Way Forward in the Appalachian Mountains, and Miracles and Other Reasonable Things: A Story of Unlearning and Relearning God. After reading the last book, I enrolled in Sarah Bessey’s email subscription program. I’m already using her Forty Simple Practice for Lent and am enjoying the emails she sends with links to many fascinating and inspiring articles and videos.

HillWomen    Miracles

  1. After reading about Honoré’s LOAD (A scrapbook Layout A Day) project, I decided to do a card-a-day. By the end of the month I had completed 29 cards—most of which have been mailed or are ready to be mail in the next month. I didn’t made a new card every day, but some days I made several. You can see some of them here, here, and here. And more will be posted once the recipients have them in their hands.

All in all, it was a great month for the the OLW commitments. March will be much lighter in intentions as we are only at home for 12 days, and most days are pretty packed with appointments, volunteering, meetings, and of course, some social engagements. 

Happy Birthday X Three

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Here's another entry for Seize the Birthday's current challenge: Sentiment as the Focal Image. It also uses the same tall skinny alphabet used on my first entry. 

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I've been trying, when I could, to make multiples of cards so I have a few in my stash ready to go. It doesn't always work, but in this case, I had to die cut five different colors in order to made the card so I had the opportunity to make five cards. Since I layered two letters of each color to give them a bit of height, it took a little longer, so I only managed to complete three cards. I saved the letters, though, so there's the possibility of two more. 

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So that the HAPPY was truly the focal point, I centered the word on a navy 4-bar card from Paper Source. 

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All three of these cards are headed to men whose birthdays are upon us. I think it would be just as appropriate for a teenager, or a woman—a very versatile design. 

Card Supplies:
Cardstock: Color Crush (The Stamp Market), True Black (PTI), Paper Source A4 card
Dies: Skinny Upper Alpha (The Stamp Market)
Stamp: Birthday Basics (The Stamp Market)

I'm also entering this in the Wednesday Simon Says Challenge: Anything Goes.

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A Big Happy Birthday

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The new challenge at Seize the Birthday is "Sentiment as Focal Image." I have the perfect card to share for this challenge. The sentiment is all there is to the card. It's already been gifted to my daughter-in-law's niece who just turned 18.

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This card, like yesterday's, uses some new-to-me products from The Stamp Market. Tracy gave me a gift certificate for Christmas, and top on my list was the tall "Skinny Upper Case Alpha." Die cut from metallic gold paper they really make a statement. Although hard to see in this photo the card itself is black shimmer paper adding just a bit more sparkle. "Hooray" was embossed in silver on black cardstock and then die cut.  It's also from The Stamp Market.

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Here's a better view:

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I used the tall skinny number dies for the inside sentiment along with a die from Papertrey Ink's "By the Number Suffixes." The stamped greeting is from The Stamp Market's set called "Hip, Hip, Hooray."

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One last look:

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The card got high marks from the teenager—always a good sign.

 

Let There Be Cake

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Addicted to CAS's current challenge is "Cake," and I couldn't wait to use my new stamps and dies from The Stamp Market. They are "cake focused!"

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This card has a fair amount of stamping, but all of it ends up being die cut before assembly.

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Since I knew I'd be spending some time putting the card together, I decided to make three identical cards. Stamping and die cutting for three really didn't take a lot more time, and now I have a few cards in my stash. I die cut the cake from some My Mind's Eye metallic paper. The rest of the cake was stamped and then die cut. I love the added glitter on the icing, compliments of some Stickles.

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The card seemed a bit plain so I embossed the front with the polka dots–the white on white texture is pretty subtle, but add some interest. 

I'm also linking this to the Wednesday Simon Says Challenge: Anything Goes.

Card Supplies:
Cardstock: Neenah, Paper Source 4 bar card
Patterned Paper: Joyful (My Minds Eye)
Stamps and dies: Party Pieces (The Stamp Market)
Embossing folder: Sizzix

 

 

Celebrate

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There's lots to celebrate here today: warm temperatures, sunny skies, and time to write a blog post! I have a card to share for The Flower Challenge: Add Leaves.

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Although I haven't been able to make a card every single day in February, by the end of the week, I will have completed at least 29 cards, so I'll count that as a successful goal. One night after creating a birthday card for Tracy's upcoming birthday in March, I had a piece of patterned paper laying on my desk. I looked through my collections of already stamped and die cut images, and found these pretty flowers from Papertrey Ink's "Botanical Bounty." I added some shading with Polychromos colored pencils, and assembled the card.

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Card Supplies:
Cardsttock: True Black (PTI), Neenah
Patterned Paper: Color Crush Patterns (The Stamp Market)
Dies: Botanical Bounty (PTI), Stitched Rectangles (Simon Says), Celebrate (in my stash, unsure)

 

Cute!

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I have a cute birthday card for a very CUTE three year old. The current AAA Birthday Card Challenge is CUTE–perfect timing!

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One of my goals this year is to use products I've owned and not used often or at all. This wonderful "Happy Birthday" die from My Favorite Things has been in my collection over a year. This was the perfect time to pull it out. The other product here is a brand-new stamp set, also from My Favorite Things, called "Birthday Buds." I chose just one image from the set, and you'll see many more of them in the future.

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The cute little bunny with the balloon was colored with Copic markers and fussy cut, and popped up with some dimensional tape.

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Card Supplies:
Cardstock: Fresh Pink (Stamp Market), Neenah
Patterned Paper: Color Crush Patterns (Stamp Market)
Stamp: Birthday Buds (Stamp Market)
Dies: Large Nested Circles (Spellbinders). Birthday Circle (MFT)

I had a whole afternoon to craft this weekend, then came down with an ugly stomach bug which put me out of commission for two days. Fortunately, it's long gone, and I'm not behind in my card-a-day efforts since I got four cards made on Sunday. That to say, I'll be back soon with another one or two or three.

Edited to add: Wrote this post while watching the presidential debates last night, and entered it in the wrong AAA Challenge where patterned paper isn't allowed. The AAA Birthday Challenge however doesn't have that restriction. That will teach me to multi-task—something I pretty much gave up a couple of years ago.

 

Simple Leaves & A Peek at the Book Journal

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All the valentines have been received, and now it's on to making all the birthday cards I need for the next month and a half. Yesterday I had a little while after we returned from our Valentine's Day road trip to make a very  CAS birthday card for two challenges, one calling for no more than 1/3 of the card stamped, and one looking for white space. This card definitely fits the challenges, and is also a one layer card. Admittedly, that's pretty unusual for me, but I'm pleased it, and decided it needed no additional embellishment. 

The first challenge is AAA Cards: Up to One Third. No optional challenge this time.

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The second challenge is Seize the Birthday.

 I hope to be contributing to this challenge on a regular basis for the next two weeks!

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Simon Says recently offered a new stamp set called "Be Kind." As soon as I saw it, I knew it would be really versatile, and ordered it when I needed some other card making supplies. Since then I've seen several wonderful cards created with the set, and am quite sure you'll be seeing a lot of it.

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You can see that I used Copics to color the leaves this time. I know I'll be trying colored pencils (finished the Colored Pencil Jumpstart class this week), as well as watercolors. I thought all it needed was a simple sentiment, this one is from Papertrey Ink's "Birthday Bash," an oldie but a goodie.

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For those of you following along with my OLW: COMMIT for 2020, you know I'm participating in the Unread Shelf Project. Whitney, who runs the project, shared a book journal she created for her project. I liked what I saw and had a lovely Filofax notebook I wasn't making good use of, so I started one, too. I keep track of all the books I read on Goodreads, so I don't have a page for the titles, but here's what I included.

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This might be my favorite page. Since I photographed it, I've finished another book, and can see that I've read 3 fiction and 3 nonfiction books. As it turns out, those six books were written by 3 men and 3 women. Just coincidence, but I'll be interested at the end of the year how those percentages end up. I'll also be interested what genres I read. 

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I belong to two book groups. Our couples book group started in 1990, and my interfaith book group just about three years ago. I decided to devote a page to each group. The date following the title is the date we discuss the book.

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Since the point of The Unread Shelf Project is to read books we've already acquired, we're encouraged to not make any purchases on alternate months. I did buy both these books during January (a shopping ban month), and have since purchased four others. Not a good beginning, but one of them was my Lenten devotional book, so that was necessary. 

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You can see here that I finished two books from my unread shelf in January. I've read one in February, and that is the goal of the project. Personally, I'd like to read two each month, but my reading time has been way down in February. We're doing a lot of traveling in March, and usually that means more reading, not less, so I'm hopeful I can catch up!

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And finally, a page to record books loaned. I've "lost" several books I loved because I don't remember who borrowed them, included a first edition copy of one of my favorite books. This, hopefully, will help me keep track of my books. Some books I keep because I want to be able to share them, but I do want them to be returned!

I'm also hopeful that the journal will be another way for me to keep track of my intentions for 2020. Thus far, the changes I've made in that regard seem to be working great, and it's hard for me to see that I won't be able to keep up with the tracking system I've created. Next month, while we're away will be the first big challenge.

 

 

 

Happy Valentine’s Day!

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After crafting for Valentine's Day for several weeks, the big day is finally here. Some gifts were mailed directly from the company to the grandchildren in Wisconsin, but the little girls who are here will get their valentine cards and goodies today. They're happiest when the gifts are identical–a different color for each is fine, but they all like the same things. I suppose that will change as they get older, but it makes things easier (usually) for now.

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Despite the weather (the high temperature today is supposed to be 12°), we decided some time ago to celebrate Valentine's Day with a short road trip to Skaneateles Lake. We have reservations for lunch at an Italian restaurant recommended by several friends, and will make a stop at our favorite Amish market on the way home. 

I do have four valentines left to share today, one of which I'm entering in the CASology challenge: Sweetheart. 

Week 361 - Sweetheart

First off, the valentine for Skylar. Several months ago, she was in my craft room and saw my collection of Copic markers. She wanted to watch me color something, so I pulled out one of these balloons that I had already stamped. We colored most of it, and then I put it aside. I added the shiny hearts and the sentiment to make it a valentine for her.

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Card Supplies:
Cardstock: Neenah, Blueberry Sky (PTI)
Stencil: Rectangular Masking (Taylored Expressions)
Stamp: Up in the Air (MFT)
All the images were fussy cut.

Next up, another little bear valentine, with lots of sparkle thanks to some glimmer spray.

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I ink blended some paper and then die cut the heart and used the Quilted Hearts embossing folder once again.

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Card Supplies:
Cardstock: Neenah, Hibiscus Pink (PTI), silver embossed (Michael's)
Stamps: Sentiment Suite: Love (The Greetery), Bear Hugs (The Stamp Market)
Dies: Nested Hearts (Spellbinders), Sentiment Suite Basics (The Greetery), Bear Hugs (TSM)

I had stamped three versions of this background stamp from Simon Says on different papers, thinking I'd use some different mediums to color them. This one was stamped on pale pink paper and colored with Copics. The paper isn't necessarily Copic-friendly, but it worked out pretty well.

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Card Supplies:
Cardstock: Sweet Blush (PTI), Doll Pink (SS)
Stamp: Heart to Heart Background (SS), Sentiment Suite: Love (The Greetery)
Dies: Stitched Rectangles (SS), Sentiment Suite: Basics (The Greetery)

Lastly, a valentine for the seventh grader I see twice a week after school. I've been working with her in a couple different settings since she was in fourth grade. She's now on a full scholarship to an all girl's Catholic high school here, and doing extremely well! Coming from the Rochester City Schools which struggle at every level, her success is a testament to a work ethic that is unsurpassed. In addition, she could not be a sweeter person.

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Here's a look at the inside of the card. I can't list the supplies since everything I used came out of the "already cut or stash" folders. The sentiment and banner are from The Greetery's Sentiment Suite series. 

Hope your day is LOVEly!!!

 

Lots of Hearts: Part 3

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Today I have a card for two challenges. First off another entry for The Card Concept: Be Mine, Valentine. 

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The second challenge is the Fusion Challenge: Valentine which also features the colors red, white, and black.

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I actually made two of these cards, one red, black and white, and the other pink, black, and white—one for my grandson in Wisconsin and the other for his sister. Once again this card fits the Layered CAS style for The Card Concept challenge.

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Here's a look at both cards:

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I love the inside sentiment which reads: "I'm not just a card, I'm a hug with a fold in it."

Card Supplies:
Cardstock: Pure Poppy, Select White, True Black (PTI), Doll Pink (Simon Says)
Patterned Paper: Black and White Dots (MFT)
Dies: Hugs and Hellos, Bear Hugs (The Stamp Market), Holiday Shapes (Simon Says)
Stamp: Bear Hugs (The Stamp Market)

 

 

 

 

 

Lots of Hearts: Part 2

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Back again with some cards for the Valentine-themed challenges out there. One of them ends today, so we'll start with The Time Out challenge: Affectionate.

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Sarah is a huge fan of hedgehogs so when I saw the Hedgie Love stamp set from Penny Black I couldn't resist. I stamped several of the cute hedgehogs to practice with my colored pencils and fussy cut them out. I posted the first one here. Here's the one for Sarah and Adam:

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If you look closely, you might be able to see the glitter I put on the balloon with my Spectrum Noir glitter pen.

Card Supplies:
Cardstock: Fresh Snow Linen, Blueberry Sky, Pure Poppy (PTI) 
Die: Cloudy Day Cover (Mama Elephant)
Stamps: Hedgie Luv (Penny Black), Up in the Air (MFT)

CASology also has a Valentine theme: Sweetheart.

Week 361 - Sweetheart

Here's a card for one of mine:

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Card Supplies:
Cardstock: Neenah, Cherry Red (Gina K)
Die: Nested Hearts (Spellbinders)
Impression Plate: Quilted Hearts (Sunny Studio)
Stamp: Just Sentiments: Valentine (Ink to Paper)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lots of Hearts: Part 1

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I've been busy in the craft room. So far I've kept my intention to made a card every day in February. Over the next few days, I'll be posting regularly to enter some of the cards in the current love-themed challenges.

The first for today is a card for the "Be Mine, Valentine" challenge at The Card Concept.

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One of my favorite color combinations is red, white, and black so this was a good fit. (I'll be back soon with another entry for this challenge.) You can see a hint of the inside of the card which was layered with some black and white striped paper. The sentiment was stamped on three of the white stripes. (Forgot to take a photograph of that!) This fits the Layered CAS style for that challenge.

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Card Supplies:
Card stock: Neenah, True Black
Patterned Paper: Bitty Big Pure Poppy (PTI)
Stamp: Infinity Frames (PTI)
Dies: Block Numbers (PTI), Heart (Spellbinders), Stripes Impression Plate (PTI)

Next up is a card for two challenges. This is my second entry to the Addicted to CAS challenge: Ombre.

ATCAS - code word ombre

I'm also entering it in the CAS on Friday challenge: Hearts.

Fan Friday

I fell in love with this die when I was at Impress Stamps in Seattle. This is a close replica of the card they had displayed on one of their shelves. I ink-blended a variety of colors from light pink to red and die cut the hearts from it. After die cutting the hearts again in the white card, I inlaid all the hearts in an ombre pattern.

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Card Supplies:
Card stock: Neenah
Stamp: Everyday Sentiments (Sugar Pea)

I'm also entering the first card in the Simon Says Wednesday Challenge: With Love.

 

 

 

5 in 5: February

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Much to my surprise (and dismay) I totally missed Sandie's 5 in 5 meme in January. And, to be truthful, when her post popped up in Feedly yesterday, I was surprised to realize it was already the fifth of February. Not to worry, though, she kindly gives us until the 25th to post five photos taken in five minutes. Although the month has barely begun, I'm already struggling to keep my intention of a photo every day. Thank goodness we have some lovely flowering house plants! But I was determined to get five photos today, and stepped out onto the patio to see what I could find. About three inches of new snow fell last night, and although it warmed up enough today to rain part of the afternoon, there's still snow on the ground. According to the meteorologist, we can count on up to another foot of snow by this time tomorrow night! I'm not a fan. But here's what I found in my five minutes on the patio.

Right off, I saw the deer tracks going across the patio. If you look closely you'll see the deer walked to the right of the fire pit and off to the right. Sunday night when we pulled out of the driveway, four deer (one with a large rack) were walking out of our yard into our neighbor's yard. We live in a pretty urban area, and many people are surprised to hear we regularly have deer and fox in the neighborhood.

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Normally, this pretty ornament would be sitting among some plants and flowers. Today there's a totally white background.

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The chairs for the patio table never made it to the shed in the fall. Our first heavy snow was early in November and the leaves hadn't even fallen off the linden tree. Everything got off schedule.

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The bird house Tracy purchased as a decoration has actually housed a few birds over the years. It's going to need to be straightened up come spring.

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And finally, the metal bird on the new fence. By tomorrow, it will likely be totally obscured.

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I gave some thought to waiting until next weekend when the George Eastman House will open the Dutch Collection exhibit. The mansion will be filled with beautiful spring flowers, but I've used that in the past for the February 5 in 5, and frankly, these photos are the reality here in February, not the Dutch bulbs.