Die Cut Inlays

I went a little crazy last month ordering dies and figured I'd better do something with them.  The card above features three dies, Memory Box Flutter Vine and Large Sitting Cat and also the rose on the cat's neck was made from a die also.  

I inlaid the flutter vine by using the die on both the background sheet and a contrasting color.  The cat is added afterward, but I was thinking later that I probably could have inlaid the cat also making this a simple two layer card.  But then I went and added the dimensional rose.  The rolled rose is made using a spiral die and I've added a little pearl in the center.

This black cat reminded me that a couple weeks ago we had a single session at school and shortly before dismissal the police sent out a notification that there had been a black bear sighting in the neighborhood.  Of all days, it had to be on a day that the students were getting out early and the weather was beautiful.  We sent an e-mail notification to the parents to warn them and didn't allow any classes to go out, including the gym class, but that didn't stop the afterschool program from asking whether we thought it was safe to let the kids go out afterschool.  I suggested that if they were wanting to use them as appetizers, they should send them out one at a time.  Seriously, I would not wish harm to any of them, I just was a little taken aback by the question.  I wish sometimes that we could figure out how to bottle common sense and market it, because there are a lot of people out there who could use a dose now and then.  I figure though that those that need it the most wouldn't know how to get the bottle opened.  But back to the cards.......     

The card below is very minimalist and for some reason reminds me of a nun's habit.  I used the cut pieces in the opposite color pattern.  I think I was aiming at something that looked like Wedgewood, but it didn't quite make it.  

I am enjoying working with these dies lately (I think I said that in a previous post, sorry!), and I would recommend getting a metal adaptor plate to use as a shim.  It really helps make those intricate cuts come out cleanly.  

And sadly, that poor little bear - they said it was a cub about 150 pounds - was struck by a car on the highway later that day and died.  We had another report of a bear nearby again yesterday.  This area is not really known for bears but you never know what Mother Nature has in store and what will show up.  

Bouquets with Bokeh

Here is the delphinium I mentioned in a previous post.  And below are the lilies.  I saw the technique challenge on Splitcoast yesterday - to use the Bokeh Effect.  I had been stuck as to what kind of background to use behind my flowers and figured I'd give it a chance.  Instead of using a solid stamp as suggested by the directions, I used my daubers.  I've always twirled them on my grid paper after I've used them and thought that I could blend a couple of colors together easily to get the effect.  Twirling the daubers gives you a circle, or hint of a circle and when the center is not completely filled with ink, it appears to look to me as a highlight.  Well, you be the judge.  

Have I fooled you into thinking that the background is the rest of the garden out of focus?  Here is a link as to what a photo looks like with the bokeh effect.

Now let me tell you how I created the delphiniums.  After running the die and Pacific Point paper through the Big Shot, I took the flowers and added a quick cross of white Prismacolor pencil in the center.

Then using the stylus in the flower kit (yes, I did splurge on the kit, but I've always said it pays to have the right tools) and the foam mat and

depressed the centers of the flowers.

See what it looks like after just doing that.

Then I took the flower and put it on the leaf mat (this is a thinner, hardcore mat covered in what appears to be a suede-like fabric) and again used the stylus but this time I ran it up and down the petals

so they would curve gently.

You see the flower before cupping and after.

Once I had all the flowers prepared, it was just a matter of adding them to the stem.  I choose to use a green wrapped floral wire and starting at the top added flowers in groups of 1, 2, 3, and then 5 flowers leaving the stem to show through between each group.  Leaves were only added at the bottom of the stalk.

I have to check on what other flowers I can make with this die. It truly should not be pigeonholed as just a forsythia.  

Mother's Day Forsythia

Hoping all mothers, grandmothers, godmothers, and aunts enjoyed their Mother's Day as much as I did.  I had all my children here today - my daughter Rachel and the newlyweds Chris and Michelle too.  I prepared Sausage Stars and Sabrina's German Apple Pancake and they loved both dishes.  I finished the Mother's Day cards for both HWNSNBP's and my mother and then we headed out to visit our respective mothers.  I got to spend some time in the stamp cave when I got back.

Today I was working on some lilies which are still drying, but I had used the forsythia die earlier this week and used those on the Mother's Day cards.  There are two dies in this set.  The flower die will punch out 20 flowers and then there is a leaf die that makes multiple leaves too.  I scored the leaves and cupped them a bit.  The flowers were depressed into the foam mat to give them their dimension.  

I added liquid paper centers to these and left the other three empty.  (I think you might see them in the card above.)

This is the size in relation to the dogwood die that I had previously used.  

I played around some more with this die cutting blue flowers and adding them to green stems turning them into delphiniums which I'll post later this week along with the lilies.  This is a bit of fussy work, but I am enjoying it.  I purchased the tool kit that was recommended to do the shaping and scoring and I'm glad I did, but I have to say that I am inept at using the reverse tweezers.  I'll stick to my regular ones!  

We might get a frost here tonight or tomorrow night and I'm hoping that the plants that we put in already will not be damaged.  The last frost date is usually May 10th, but this spring has been so unpredictable!

3 Seconds.........

I had to attend a small "inservice" with two of my coworkers this week.  It was about state reporting and correcting data.  Working in a school office it is virtually impossible to complete a task without being interrupted.  It's also impossible to do a job correctly without the right information but I won't go down that "rat hole" as HWNSNBP likes to put it.

I found this little blurb in an old Reader's Digest and snipped it out and copied it.  Before I mounted it on the scrapbook paper, I took my daubers and smushed some ink on the copied quote, ran that through my little Xyron sticker maker and stuck it on.  The little frames were from the $1.50 bin at Mike's and I had picked up a couple of them to keep handy for a "someday" project. 

I'm glad I found something to do with them and the ladies got a kick out of them.  

Dear Anonymous

I apologize in advance if you are a true follower who does not want, or does not know how to post a comment with your name, be it screen or real, attached.  Just please know that I will not be publishing your comments.  This is largely in part because the anonymous comments that I've been getting come with links to strange websites.  

I also will not be publishing any comments that come in foreign languages, that being other than English, as I do not speak any other languages fluently and even with the Google translate feature, I am sure that there would be a great chance of misinterpretation both by me and my other named readers.  Again, especially if accompanied by links to websites.  

If, however, you are a real anonymous follower and not a computer, and wish to comment, please contact me via my e-mail, which you can find on my profile page.  I will be happy to post your comment.  

I like comments.  I really do.  I've just been getting so many anonymous comments that are spam lately and they're making me a little cranky.

What made me smile yesterday was how the light was dappling through the trees as I turned in the driveway illuminating these daffodils with their orange coronas.  These have to be among the late blooming varieties because most of the others have dried flower heads already.  

April Tangles

Above is my first completed Zendala.  I was gifted some round Zendala tiles for Christmas and had started this tile a while back.  I finally made a point of sitting and finishing it.  The string was pre-drawn on the tile which accounts for the somewhat preciseness of the segments.  The tangles were my choice.  

Dogwood and Pu**ywillows

I saw this card by Kecia Waters on Pinterest and fell in love with the Pu**ywillow stamp immediately.  It is by Repeat Impressions.  (If you're wondering why I added asterisks to the word, it is just to avoid being spammed.  I'm already getting too many anonymous comments on a daily basis that are bogus, I just don't want to stir up any more.)  I tried the out-of-the-box die cutting like she did on her card with no success, so I did it my way.  

I remembered that I had a single Pu**ywillow stamp from Picture Show and used that on the card base.  Both of the stamps were stamped in Basic Gray ink and then colored with my Prismacolor pencils. Don't you love the way they pop on the Crumb Cake paper!  I didn't use any blending agent, just the pencils themselves.  

The card was looking a little in need of something and I just happened to have my dogwood blossoms sitting there on the table.  I think the addition of the dogwood makes it look very Springy.  

I was able to order the liquid paper to add the dimensional "dots" to the stamens - makes it a bit more realistic, don't you think?  Ha, I've got cats and dogs on the same card!  

I splurged a bit and ordered some more of the flower dies that I hope to be playing around with some this weekend.  Forsythia and mini lilies.  

And let me share the Zentangle from Monday which just happens to be called Dugwud - a play on....... you guessed it.  Right?  Not a great picture, but if you click on it, you will see the pattern a little clearer.

With a quote from Anne Morrow Lindbergh - "After all, I don't see why I am always asking for private, individual, selfish miracles when every year there are miracles like white dogwood."  

The pink dogwood outside the office window is in full bloom and I have to remember to get some close-ups of those blossoms so I can try to make some of those too.

I've finished up April's tangles in my calendar book but I'll save that for another day.