Built For Two

My supervisor is a biker......as in cyclist..........so naturally we needed a bicycle card.  The first bicycle stamp I came across happened to be a 2-seater.  No problem, slap a cake on the rear seat and we're good to go.

I like it - so much so I did another card along the same lines but the focal point is a different mode of transportation.  I'll do a Show & Tell of that one a bit later. 

Stamps:  CTMH (bike, tree, building, clouds); Stampin' Up (tire track wheel stamp); Cat's Pajamas (mini cake and sentiment).
Inks:  Memento, CTMH and Colorbox Chalks
B&T: CTMH
Copics
Marvy Punches

Toodles...

Happy Heart Day!

Here's wishing you all an oh-so LOVELY Valentine's Day!!

Toodles...

Angel Kitty



Sympathy Cards for pets?  I was wondering if that would be too much - too over the top??  But in recalling how I felt after having  received cards myself I thought, well isn't that the POINT of the card??  To convey something from the sender to the recipient...and for so many people, their pets are their fur-babies or at least a very important part of their lives.

 

And I know how devastating it is when you lose one of your 4-legged friends so yes, Sympathy Cards for pets!

 

 

Easy card to make even with several steps involved:  side folded but the CS was cut length-wise (am I the only one that frets over the way a horizontal card sometimes gets weighed down to the point of collapsing?); ran all but about 1.25 inches through an embossing folder; stamped cat (with a light swiping motion to get that bit of distressed image) and then swiped some neutral gray under the kitters for some shadowing and then stamped the sentiment and inked up the edges; matted circle with cat on a light blue piece of CS that was Nestabilified; adhered a bit of B&T paper to the bottom of the card; tied some sheer ribbon on the side for a little sparkle.   

 

 

So I had a vision - a theme actually.  The main element is the cat, cats like fish, fish swim in water - so this is my version of a kitty heaven.  The embossing folder is literally called "Waves" and the fish B&T is well, FISH-themed, the use of blue in the matted circle and in the inks for the sentiment and edging are keeping with the water theme.  The orange sheer ribbon ties in with some of the fish.  The rounded corner was to repeat the roundedness of the circles and the curves in the Waves embossing folder. 

 

I liked it and apparently so did our customers - this card sold OUT!

 

Stamps: A Muse & PTI

Embossing Folder - whatever QuicKutz is now called

Fish B&T - ????

Inks - Memento & Colorbox Chalk Ink

Ribbon - A Muse

Marvy Circle Punch & Nestabilities

 

Toodles...

 



Crochet Happy

Brrrrrr - is it cold out there or what?

 

 

Actually it's not - and sadly we've gotten little to no snow and no rain to speak of...but you didn't pop in to hear weather woes...you've probably been waiting oh-so patiently for a card posting AND once again...it's NOT happening!

 

However I do have some photos of some of the crochet goodness that I was involved in for gifties!!  I whipped these 3 scarves up for Christmas presents.  All were made with different yarn but surprisingly they all landed in the pinky/purply color family. 

 

 

I "found" this oh-so cool pattern ("Aligned Shells") in a book I've had for YEARS ("63 Easy-To-Crochet Pattern Stitches" by Darla Sims).  Not really sure why it took so long to apply yarn to hook, but at long last it happened.  This little purple beauty was made for Heidi (who dropped a few not-too-subtle hints about NOT having any purple or pink scarves in her collection).  Love the softness in feel and in the color variegation of this beautiful yarn  ("Unforgettable" Boutique by Red Heart) - this is "Petunia" (there are several other colors and they're all oh-so gorgeous...).  One skein is 280 yards and is lovely to work with and is more than enough to complete a scarf.

 

Scarf #2 is made with the Shocking Pink "Chick" yarn (Bernat's Boa) and it's just double crochet - there's about 129 yards in a ball and since it's been a while since I've worked with it I couldn't quite recall how many balls I would need for a scarf.  To be safe, I purchased 2 balls and much to my delight, I discovered 1 ball was enough for the length of scar I wanted.  After my retinas recovered, I tucked the second ball of "Chick" safely away for another day AND I already know who'll be getting that second scarf! 

 

Jilean  was shocked and delighted with her gift and she rather insulted me with the question, "Did you actually make this yourself????" - why yes indeedy chili beanie, I most certainly DID!!!

The final scarf was made for Lorra - I was pretty torn because she's a total Disney Fan and I like to make things that really reflect the recipient's personalities and interests...but let's be honest - I was on a tight schedule and I really didn't have time to do a lot of color changes (let alone any cool Disney motifs) and I absolutely detest weaving ends....ick, ick, ick!!  So I decided to select a color that I thought she might like in a yarn that would be oh-so cozy (and warm since the woman is ALWAYS freezing - when she's not burning up with a hot flash...) so of course what did I select?  Well hello - that would be Lyon Brand's Homespun of course, of course.  I don't recall the color name but one skein (185 yards) is more than enough to make a great scarf - generally I do a V-stitch with Homespun, it works up fast & easy and looks good with the chunkiness of the yarn.  And there's enough left over to add to my stash of left-over yarns....I've used/will be using enough Homespun to make a 1-granny square lap blanket...which is of course ANOTHER project!

 

Oh shoot - completely forgot to snap a photo of the scarf I made for Creepella - will have to do that soon - it turned out lovely but I hated the yarn...snagged on my too-dry fingers and just waited to knot up the moment I let my guard down....sigh.....

 

I've got a couple of other scarf projects in the works and I'm now kitting up some of the next stitching projects I plan to work on.  Work is busy, busy, busy and school started a couple of weeks ago and I'm enjoying my second floral class (corsages & wedding flowers) and with the new scrapbook line of CTMH, I'm trying to get the hang of that and as always there are sooooo many card ideas and not nearly enough time.  Retirement can't come soon enough for my Life Of Crafting!

 

I hope you all have had some Crafty Time!

 

Toodles...