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Challenge: Cityscapes Promotion #sharewithsizzix, entry 2

8/17/2017

Yet another entry in a promotion by Sizzix of Tim Holtz dies - this time the cityscapes series. We can use any or all of the die sets (Cityscapes Commute, Cityscapes Metropolis, Cityscapes Skyline, and Cityscapes Suburbia). For this entry, I elected to go with "Cityscapes Skyline" and with a plea for peace for a "shining city on a hill" that, in my eyes, has tarnished a bit of late... (Yes, it could also pass as a Christmas card but isn't it a little early to be thinking about Christmas?)

I used gloss black card to make a top-folding card, die cut the skylines from metallic card scraps and die cut a word from the Sizzix Thinlits "Vintage Tidings" die set:

Products used in the making of this card were:

Dies: Sizzix Thinlits "Cityscapes Skyline" (661810) and "Vintage Tidings" (661605)
Papers: Gloss black card; metallic silver and gold card scraps; and metallic silver paper
Adhesives: Scortape; Xyron 500 sticker maker

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Challenge: On the Cutting Edge

8/17/2017

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Over at Frilly and Funky, a challenge has been issued by the design team for August 16, 2017, entitled "On The Cutting Edge". Instructions for this challenge are:

" [use] your dies, punches or other cutting tools to create a masterpiece featuring at least one die cut, machine cut or punched image. Make sure your art is in the vintage or shabby chic style and incorporates a cut out."

I pretty much went all out on dies! I sued a Sizzix Thinlits die set for the two stitched rectangles and a Sizzix BIGZ/Texture Fade set for two feathers which I shaded with Distress Oxide and a blending tool. I layered rectangles and feathers and added a sentiment from Brutus Monroe which I also die-cut!

I also entered this in the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge for August 16, 2017: Add a Sentiment

Products used in the making of this card were:

Stamps: Brutus Monroe "Angel Wings" (BRU4289)
Dies: Sizzix Thhinlits "Stitched Rectangles" (661189) and BIGZ/Texture Fade "Feather Duo" (660237); Brutus Monroe "Angel wings" (BRU1816)
Inks: Archival "Jet Black"; Distress Oxides "Fossilized Amber" and "Antique Linen"
Papers: Paper Reflections card "white" (GRC02116); Brutus Monroe Shimmer Elements Paper Bag "Spring Watercolor" (BRU4192); scraps of Bazzill pale blue, mustard and amber card
Adhesives: ScorTape; EK Tools 3D Foam Dots

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Challenge: Cityscapes Promotion #sharewithsizzix

8/15/2017

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Yet another promotion by Sizzix of Tim Holtz dies - this time the cityscapes series. We can use any or all of the die sets (Cityscapes Commute, Cityscapes Metropolis, Cityscapes Skyline, and Cityscapes Suburbia) in this promotion and I elected to go with "Metropolis" since this is one I haven't used yet in card projects.

I didn't take step-by step photos because this is really a very simple card, with all the prep being in the inking of the card stock to be die-cut! I took scraps of tan and very dark brown card and smooshed it into three colors of Distress Oxides, misted it and then let it dry before cutting the Metropolis pieces out. It was then a matter of assembling each building and arranging them on a background of patterned velum and white card painted with Wink of Stella. I die cut a "sentiment" banner from a scrap of glittery/shimmery white card (previously run through my Xyron sticker maker). Then a spritz of two of "Picket Fence" marker and some random doodles with a white gel pen (for snow flakes) and a gold marker (for windows) and my card was finished!

The weather outside is frightful (way to hot and humid for my taste) so "Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow!" Well, not really (I'm not a big fan of REAL snow), but it would be nice if it cooled down a bit!

Products used in the making of this card were:

Dies: Sizzix Thinlits "Cityscape - Metropolis" (661804) and "Holiday Words - Thin" (661600)
Inks" Distress Oxides "Walnut Stain", "Vintage Photo" and "Antique Linen"; Distress Markers "Pumice Stone" and "Picket Fence"; Snwman Extra Fine Point "Gold marker"; Signs Uniball broad "white"; Wink of Stella "clear" (GL 999)
Papers: Paper Reflections "Create Your Own" "white"; scraps of Neena white, shimmery white, dark brown and tan card; Creative Memories Precious Elements Printed Velum
Adhesives: ScorTape; Ranger Collage Glue Stick; Xyron 500 sticker maker

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Challenge: Nautical - By The Sea

8/14/2017

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"Many of our friends have spent their summer vacation on board cruise ships, some have been boating on lakes, and some have been sailing across one of the seven seas, we would like you to cruise along with us and create something with voyages into the unknown in mind."

So say the Simon Says Stamp MondayChallenge for August 14, 2017 - "Nautical".

Now I have never spent a summer vacation abroad any ship/boat/canoe/kayak but I have been on cruises in the Autumn (the off season so they are cheaper!), a friend once took us out on San Francisco Bay in his sailboat (COLD! WET!), and we do occasionally take a ride around our little lake in summer with our neighbor on his pontoon boat. One of my fondest summer memories was my summer term at Franz Theodore Stone Lab on Lake Erie (lots of boat rides then --- all for various biological collection trips among the Bass Islands) during which there was the annual summer regatta. All those glorious sailboats!

However, I have no stamps or dies or papers that reflect this nautical activity. I do, however, have a collection of lighthouse stamps (most are "out of print" wood because I started this collection back when I first started stamping) and one set of circa 2001 Stamping' Up! "inchie" stamps has both a lighthouse and a sailboat in it so I decided to try to merge the two for my card today.

I started by stamping the two stamps in Archival "Jet Black" ink, trimmed them and colored them with Distress Markers and a detail blending pen. I abutted the two images so that the water line/horizon matched and mounted them on two shades of blue card. I adhered the final "image" to a top-folded notecard and added a die-cut sentiment from Sizzix:

Products used in the making of this card were:

Stamps: Stampin' Up! set, name unknown, circa 2001
Dies: Sizzix Thinlits "Vacation Words - script" (661288)
Inks: Archival "Jet Black"; Distress Markers "Salty Ocean", "Tumbled Glass"; "Mowed Lawn", "Peeled Paint", "Rusty Hinge", "Pumice Stone", "Barn Door" and "Squeezed Lemonade"
Papers: Golden Oak Papers card- "sparked-silver"; scraps of white, pale blue, aqua and glimmer aqua card
Adhesives: ScorTape; Xyron 500 Sticker Maker

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Challenge: Flower Jar Promotion, pt 2 #sharewithsizzix

8/12/2017

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The latest promotion over at Sizzix, #sharewithsizzix , this time for the Tim Holtz Flower Jug stamps and dies lasts until tomorrow and we are allowed to enter as many creations as we like. I have been hesitating on this one as there are so many steps to working with this step-and-die combination and not that much time in the week's challenge, but I had an idea I wanted to try: A view out a kitchen window showing fields of wildflowers, and jars of picked flowers on a shelf in front of the window.

Had a problem though - no window stamp or die that worked as a view from the inside out. Well, there was one but it was a Gothic window and I know of few kitchens with gothic windows ... But when Gothic is all one has, Gothic is what one goes with! Think of this kitchen as a view from a castle!

I started by creating my "background. I used a section of foiled striped cardstock as wallpaper, a scrap of glossy white card from which the window was die-cut; and a scrap of Neena "white" on which I blended a Distress Oxide sky and field:

I cut a strip of the white gloss card to serve as a shelf for my jar and later, I made dots with Distress Markers for flowers in the field.

I stamped and cut four jars (ended up only using three as there was no room on my window shelf), cut out the centers of each jar, and die-cut four more from pale aqua card. I stamped all the wildflowers and leaves from the stamp set, some more than once, using Distress Oxide Inks and die-cut them (I ended up not using all the greenery from the stamp set... no room in the jars!).

I then played with which flowers went with which jars (some had to be "trimmed" to fit), glued the bouquets to the blue backgrounds and glued the stamped-and-die-cut jars on top. I glued the "filled" jars to the shelf and the entire card to a pre-folded kraft card:

Products used in the main of this card were:

Stamps: Stampers Anonymous "Flower Jar" (CMS297)
Dies: Poppystamps "Grand Gothic Window" (845) and Sizzix Thinlits "Flower Jar" (66270)
Inks: Archival "Shadow Grey"; Distress Oxides "Broken China", "Peeled Paint", "Worn Lipstick" and "Wilted Violet"; Distress Markers "Wilted Violet" and "Worn Lipstick"; Signo Uniball fine-tip pen "white"
Papers: S.E.I. 8.5 x 11 paper pad "Holiday Traditions" (9-7690); Paper Reflections "Create Your Own" card in kraft; scraps of gloss white, Neena "white" and pale aqua card
Adhesives: ScorTape; Ranger Collage Glue Stick

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Challenge: August Color Inspiration from Lindy's Gang

8/11/2017

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The August 2017 color palette from the Lindy's Gang is a compilation of "berry" colors:

and the monthly color selection for this challenge consisted of five sprays (Flat Fabio CHATEAU ROSE, and Starburst OPEN ARMS AMETHYST, BODACIOUS BLUSH, VOODOO VIOLET BLUE,and WHALE WATCH BLUE) and five embossing powders (CHATEAU ROSE, MIDNIGHT RUBY, HIBISCUS ROSE ORANGE, MIDNIGHT VIOLET, and COSMIC BLUE) and since I didn't have a single one of these (no surprise -- two were retired colors - Voodoo Biolet Blue and Cosmic Blue!), I had to wait for the order to arrive by post! But it's here and I started playing around with them this morning!

I started with a background, applying white gesso to a sheet of Ranger Mixed Media Cardstock and, when dry, applying a random series of "streaks" of Dreamweaver Embossing Paste in which I embedded some US ArtQuest Mini Prills and on which I sprinkled some Dreamweaver Metallic F/X powder. Once the embossing paste was dry, I used all five sprays randomly, to cover the card:

Another drying period and then I stamped on the corners using Archival "Jet Black" ink for a little "texture":

The embelllishments were butterflies, a chipboard scroll, and some flowers. I started with the butterflies, spraying watercolor paper with Open Arms Amethyst, Voodoo Violet Blue and Whale Watch Blue) and die-cutting two butterflies:

I also diecut two matching butterfly "covers" from Neena white card stock that I had previously run through my Xyron 500 sticker maker. Once I had picked out all the tiny bits (the sticker paper didn't cut all the way through), I inked the two "covers" with Versamark and applied Chateau Rose embossing powder:

(note to self --- I thought that making the covers into stickers first would eliminate the little bits of stray glue that often result from the Xyron. Not so ---there is no good way to emboss a sticker like this --- the powder gets into the holes and one spends as much time clearing the holes as making the entire card!)

I overlaid the covers on the butterfly bases to get this effect:

I also embossed the scroll, using three different embossing powders (Cosmic Blue, Midnight Violet and Hibiscus Rose Orange):

Assembly time! I attached the background to a pre-folded kraft card, and placed the scroll, butterflies and flowers:

Once I saw the above photo, I realized that the card needed a sentiment of some kind so I used a Clippings Sticker:

Products used in the making of this card were:

Stamps: Studio 490 Wendy Vecchi "Rectangle Collage" (WVBG035)
Dies: Sizzix Thinlits "Detailed Butterflies" (661182) and "Detailed Butterflies - mini" (661802)
Inks: Lindy;s Gang Flat Fabio Spray "CHATEAU ROSE", Starburst Sprays OPEN ARMS AMETHYST, BODACIOUS BLUSH, VOODOO VIOLET BLUE, and WHALE WATCH BLUE; Archival "Jet Black"; Versamark
Embossing Powders: Linday's Gang Embossing Powders CHATEAU ROSE, HIBISCUS ROSE ORANGE, MIDNIGHT VIOLET, and COSMIC BLUE
Papers: Rage Mixed Medium Cardstock (ISD44628) and Watercolor Paper (ISW39532); Neena "white"; Paper Reflections "Create Your Own" card in kraft
Media: Liquitx Acrylic Gesso "white"; Dreamweaver Embossing Paste; Dreamweaver Metallic F/X "Gold Inca" (F/X 05)
Embellishments: Prima Flowers "Wild Free" (575036); Creative Embellishments chipboard scroll; Idea-ology "Clippings Sticker" (TH93583)
Adhesives: ScorTape; Ranger Collage Medium; Xyron 500 Sticker maker

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Challenge: For A Child

8/10/2017

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The Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge, August 9, 2017, is "For A Child".

I have very few children in my life, and most of the ones who are on the periphery of my life are male, but I have very few, if any, stamps suitable for little boys. For that matter, I have few stamps suitable for children at all, but this stamp I "won" at Simon Says Create 2017 might pass.

It doesn't specify if a card is to be given to a child or given by a child or... So... I aimed at creating a card that could be either --- or neither!

I started by stamping an image and a sentiment in Archival "Jet Black" on watercolor paper and then coloring in the image with Intense Pencils and a blending pen:

On a scrap of light-weight white card, I stamped one of the wildflowers from the "Flower Jar" stamp set, die cut it, colored it with Inktense pencils and trimmed off the majority of it's leaves. After creating a small slit between the little girls' hands on the watercolor image, I slid the flower stem into the slit:

What I was aiming for is that iconic moment when a toddler brings a bouquet of "weeds" randomly pulled up by their roots, to the object of their affection (Mama, Grandmama, etc.).

I matted the cad with turquoise card that matched the toddler's dress and then layered that onto a pre-folded silver-grey notecard:

Products used in the making of this card were:

Stamps: The Greeting Farm "Cutesy Anya"; Jane's Doodles "Plants"; and Stampers Anonymous "Flower Jar" (CMS267)
Dies: Sizzix Thinlits "Flower Jar" (662270)
Inks: Archival "Jet Black"; Inktense "Madder Brown" (1920), "Baked Earth" (1800), "Sea Blue" (1200), "Poppy Red" (0400), "Apple Green" (114) and "Sun Yellow" (0200)
Papers: Golden Oak Papers card pre-pack "sparkles-silver"; Ranger Watercolor paper (ISW39532); scrap of white and turquoise card
Adhesives: ScorTape; Ranger Collage Glue Stick

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Challenge: Flower Jar Promotion #sharewithsizzix

8/9/2017

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Sizzix is issuing another #sharewithsizzix promotion, this time for the Tim Holtz Flower Jug stamps and dies. And, as luck would have it, on the day they issued the challenge, my copy of both stamps and dies arrived in the post! WOO HOO!

I started with a background, using three of the leaf stamps in the Flower Jar set which I stamped with Versamark and heat embossed with clear embossing powder on Neena white card. My next step was to blend three colors of Distress ink and add a few splatters water and of Distress Markers (using the Tim Holtz spritzer tool):

I matted the trimmed card on lime green card stock and mounted the background on a kraft card base:

I ran a scrap of glimmer gold card (already processed by my Xyron 500 sticker maker) through my Big Shot using a thinlits "Vacation Words" die and my card was ready to embellish:

I decided to create a bouquet of wildflowers in the larger mason jar in the Flower Jar set. First, using my MISTI, I stamped four flowers (in shades of Distress Oxide inks) and two-and-a-half mason jars (two in Archival "Shadow Grey" and one-half in Versamark to be heat-embossed in silver) on scraps of Neena white card:

After die-cutting (and a little fussy cutting), I aded color to the flowers (blending Distress Oxides over the white portions left by the dies) and one of the jars (using Distress Inks in two colors):

Assembly meant running the cut-out jar through my Xyron 250 sticker maker and layering it on top of the painted jar. Before sticking the top down, I aded the flowers. Once the "bouquet" was in it's "vase", I added Glossy Accents to the jar itself to simulate glass, and let the piece dry overnight (it's very humid here of late and I used a LOT of Glossy Accents!):

Final assembly of the card included tying a length of green-and-white baker's twine around the jar neck, placing the flower jar in the lower left corner with a stray piece of foliage (trimmed from one of the flowers where it didn't fit in the jar) and the jar's silver lid propped up against it:

Products used in the making of this card were:

Stamps: Stampers Anonymous "Flower Jar" (CMS297
Dies: Sizzix Thinlits "Flower Jar" (662270) and "Vacation words - script" (661288)
Inks: Archival "Shadow Grey"; Versamark; Distress Oxides "Wilted Violet", "Peeled Paint",Distress Inks "Shabby Shutters", "Peeled Paint", "Squeezed Lemonade" and "Twisted Citron"; Distress Markers "Shabby Shutters", "Twisted Citron", "Peeled Paint" and "Black Soot"
Embossing Powders: Viva Las Vegas "Ultra High Gloss Clear" and WOW! "Metallic Silver Super Fine" (WC05SF)
Papers: Paper Reflecions "Create Your Own" car in krft; Neena "white"; scraps of lime green and glimmer gold
Embellishments: green-and-white baker's twine (a freebie from Flora and Fauna Stamps)
Adhesives: ScorTpae; Ranger Collage Glue Stick; Glossy Accents; Xyron 500 and 250 sticker makers

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Challenge: Choice of Three Color Palettes

8/7/2017

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Over at the 7 Hills blog,, the challenge for August 17 is to create a project using at least 3 colors from one of the palettes providied and at least one product they sell: I chose the left palette from the ones shown below:

I seem to be in a yellow and teal mood this month but it is a color scheme I really relate to.

I stamped a background using Altenew Stamps and two colors of Altenew Crisp Dye Inks, applied a "wash" of a third Altenew Crisp Dye Ink over the stamped background, and stamped a sentiment using another Altenew Stamp set and a fourth Crisp Dye Ink.

I stamped a butterfly image from a third Altenew stamp set on turquoise card, again using Crisp Dye Inks, and colored it with a blending pen, two colors of Crisp Dye Inks and a gold marker pen. After layering the background on a scrap of turquoise card and attaching the butterfly, the resultant card is shown here:

Products used in the making of this card were:

Stamps: Altenew "Live Life in Color", "Bejeweled" and "Painted Greetings" sets
Dies: ALtenew "Bejeweled" die set
Inks: Altenew Crisp Dye Inks "Buttercream", "Caramel Toffee", "Sunkissed", "Dusk" and "Desert Night"
Papers: Golden Oak card pre-pack in "sparkles - silver" (P1043); Ranger Watercolor Paper (ISW 39532) and scraps of turquoise card stock
Adhesives: ScorTape

I am also entering this in the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge for August 7: Happy Birthday

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Challenge: Foil It

8/6/2017

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The WOW! challenge for August 2017 is to use foil on a project.

I have a sampling of WOW! Fun Foils that I haven't used because I don't have the bonding powder but I do have Ranger's "Sticky" embossing powder so I though I'd try that.It worked but, as might be expected for a "distress" project *and* my terrible luck with wood-mounted background stamps, the coverage was little shabby. Well, that's OK as I was looking for a background, not a feature:

Hard to show the shimmer of the foil without washing out the entire photo. But you can see some of it at the bottom in this photo...

To show off the foil, I mounted the image on a coordinating color of card stock and then on a sparkly silver notecard base. I added a banner with a sentiment stamped in Vresamark and then embossed with white, and then scattered some Prima flowers along one edge:

A lot more glimmer and shimmer than I usually do: the foil, the sparkle in the pre-folded note card, the sparkle in the white EP and the shimmery flowers...

Products used in the making of this card were:

Stamps: All Night Media (580K03) and Hero Arts "Deep Sea"
Inks: Versamark
Embossing Powders/Foils: WOW! FabFoil "Teal" (W216BLG30_shu) and WOW! Embossing Powder "White Sparkle" (WS58R)
Embellishments: Prima Flowers "St. Tropez: Oceane" (596514)
Papers: Turquoise card stock; Golden Oak card pre-pack "Sparkle-SIlver"; Neena "white"
Adhesives: Ranger Embossing Powder "Sticky" (EPJ35275); ScorTape; Distress Collage Medium

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Author

Born in New Jersey, I grew up in Southeastern Ohio. Attended university at Bowling Green State University (B.Sci in biological science, 1964), University of Southern California (M. Sci in biological science, 1967) and University of Florida (Ph. D in zoology, 1971).
Worked in environmental consulting for a little more than a decade and then seven years as an instructor in biological science at various community colleges in California and Texas. Moved to London in 1992, then Beijing (1996) and Saudi Arabia (1998), before returning to NW Ohio in 2002. I am currently living in NW Ohio with my husband and three Bombay cats. I love to read (mystery, science fiction, history) and stitch (have done crewel, currently experimenting with free embroidery and needlepoint but blackwork and cross stitch are my main genres); have been known to knit; and now I'm heavily into papercrafting!
Retired upon the return to the US so lots of time for our hobbies...