A Joyful Christmas

Say what? Christmas? Yep. The gals at Jingle Belles have a fun sketch this fortnight, and it kick-started me to make a card! Lookie:

It's such a great sketch:

So great, in fact, I took a few liberties. I made the main panel a little smaller, thereby allowing me to use one of the bazillion pieces of black card stock remnants on my desk from making my SOS card this week. #BONUS

Also, that sideways circle thing? That's because I cut the green circle a little off, and needed to hide the flat edge. Oh, wait, I meant to do that!

Thanks, Belles, for another great challenge! I might need to use up some more holiday paper pieces, so I may make another one. Could happen.

Thanks for stopping by!

Stuff I used: Lawn Fawn Peace Love Joy 6x6 paper pack, SU Basic Black card stock, and the following:

InLinkz.com

Happy Birthday, Dad!

I don't usually share a lot of personal stuff on my blog, but I thought this topic was worthy. I lost my Dad earlier this year. Well, as a cousin so aptly pointed out, we lost our parents years ago, and we've been mourning them. My Dad was still here, but he wasn't my Dad, you know? Don't get me wrong! I loved every minute I got to spend with him these past few years, but the Dad I knew had been gone for a long time. Every once in a while a glimmer would come though in a stray snarky comment, and I truly treasure those memories.

My parents were children of the Depression, and they were excellent savers and re-users. They weren't great splurgers, but when they did something, they did it right. My parents both had a love of good single-malt scotch. They got the good stuff, and they savored it. Not big drinkers, but man, they sipped a good scotch now and then.

In the Jewish tradition, one remembers a deceased family member by lighting a Yartzeit memorial candle on the anniversary of their death, or on Yom Kippur. It's tradition. We always had candles burning on Yom Kippur when we were kids. But I'm a rebel. (No big surprise there.) I think you should remember the good stuff, not the sad stuff, so here's my new plan:

On my Dad's birthday, I will drink a good scotch and toast him. So I went to the liquor store and bought "the good stuff":

I know everyone's definition of "the good stuff" is different. When I walked in, the guy asked "Do you want $1000 good?" Um, no. I settled for 18 year-old Glenfiddich.

In crafty terms, this is a SABLE item: Supplies Available Beyond Life Expectancy. I might need to add this to my will so my kids can carry on the tradition.

And yes, I made a card:

I felt it could be simple. I also felt a burning need to print out a photograph, fussy-cut it, and put it on a card.

About the color and amount of scotch in the glass. First, I had to create a smaller glass (had to), since the only glass I had was too tall. Here's how I over-stamped it and made the smaller glass:

and I just cut out the smaller part of it. As for color and amount of scotch, when I was in Scotland, I had the pleasure of touring a small, still-family-owned distillery, and after the tour, we each got a dram of scotch in a glass. There were also pitchers of water on the table. The woman in charge said, "Please do not insult us and fill your glass with water." Who were we to argue?!?! So what if it was 9:30 am and we were drinking straight single-malt scotch, right? We didn't insult her!

So tonight I plan to have a small toast to my Dad, and remember all the fun things we did and great moments we had. Thanks Dad, and Happy Birthday! *cheers*

Stuff I used: Kelly Purkey/SSS Happy Birthday stamp set, and the following:

InLinkz.com

CSSC #3 WINNERS

[Looking for today's SOS post? Please scroll down, or click here.]

THANK YOU to all who played my third sketch challenge! I continue to be humbled by your support. xoxo

Here are my top picks for April. The winner is Maura, with this card:

There's something about those colors that pulled me in.

And the two runners-up are Kathy:

I liked the pretty combination of papers (even if they are gah pink), and the fact that she used a cool coin, which I may also have hoarded.

and Lauren:

who has the insane ability to put 10 pounds of stuff on a card and make it all look like it's meant to be there. I bow down to her daily.

Congratulations, ladies! Feel free to grab your badge from the CSSC Rules & Badges page, and display it proudly on your blog. You've earned it!

And Maura, please email me (link on the right) to select your ink colors!

I'll be back on the first with a new sketch!

Thanks, again, for your support! xo

SOS #199: Opposite Day

It's Tuesday, and time for a new challenge at Shopping Our Stash. This week's theme is Opposite Day, and we'd like you to break out of your comfort zone and do something that's opposite your normal style. Do you tend toward more of a CAS style? Why not add a frou-frou ribbon? Normally more of a pile-it-on type? Then try CAS.

In my world, I've found I'm more CAS these days, so I forced myself to play with some mixed media supplies in my collection. Here's my card, then I'll explain:

It still smells CAS, but I really did try. First I applied a layer of white Gesso to some SU water color card stock (I have no idea why I chose water color ... it was on top), then I scratched a pattern into the Gesso with my Tim Holtz scratcher thingie:

And yes, I made two, since I mess up a lot, and it makes sense to cover myself in these perilous times.

Once it dried, I broke open my black Gesso, painted it on in the opposite direction, then scratched it with the scratcher thingie, too:

Then I waited for things to dry. I might have napped.

The next day I decided the black & white needed a shot of color, so I added some Hero Arts Neon Ink with my dauber bottle.

Next up I decided it still looked amazingly CAS, so I needed to add layers. I broke out my maybe-used-once Simon Says Stamp Frames set and got to cutting. Many layers of frames ensued. I used to layer everything, but now, not so much.

I added a busy-ish sentiment that I used my MISTI to stamp multiple times to get a clean image.

Okay, it still squeaks out some CAS, but I really did try, and I played with some mixed medaia stuff that's usually ignored in my stash, so I call it a success.

Why do I now feel the need to go back and add some black paint drops to the card front? STOP. Just STOP!

So, want to stretch your wings a little? Come on over and play our Opposite Day challenge!

Thanks for stopping by!

Stuff I used: SU Basic Black card stock, SU water color paper. and the following:

InLinkz.com