Hand Stamped Sentiments: Amazing Things

 The sketch Hand Stamped Sentiments inspired me to put together this mountain scene.

I'm not exactly on with the sketch, but I was definitely inspired.  I have the arch, although mine is bigger. Then this particular die set didn't allow for a stripe behind it - so I added a strip on top and used it for my sentiment. 

I went pretty "flat" with this card. Usually I like dimension - I definitely go through a lot of dimensional adhesive - but I wanted this a bit more graphic. Then because of that look, when it came time to add leaves, I modeled them after Jeanne Jachna's card instead of grouping them more naturally on the branches. The scenery, except the rolling hills, comes with the Waffle Flower Forest Window die set.  For the mountains, I used both sides of the cut to get different mountains. 

Don't look too closely at the sentiment.  It's exactly what I wanted to say but the stamp is slightly damaged (probably by my overly-stuffed storage area) and the "f" over to the right doesn't stamp well.  I tried so SO many times to make it look good.  This particular version has the "f" but it's not stamped solidly on the left side of the stamp but I guarantee the recipient (my 27-year old son) will not notice so I moved on. 

Thanks to Hand Stamped Sentiments for the inspiration!

SUPPLY LIST

Stamps: Pinkfresh My Favorite Things to Say

Dies: Waffle Flower Forest Window die, Memory Box Flying Gulls (I tried to pick one that didn't look so much like a gull since this is a mountain scene), Sizzix Darling Deer, Taylored Expressions Build a Scene - Snowdrifts and Build a Scene - Rolling Hills

Paper: Stampin' Up Crumb Cake, Balmy Blue, Gray Granite, Highland Heather, Pool Party (with a little sparkle spritzed on it for the lake), Parakeet Party, Granny Apple Green, Shaded Spruce, Soft Suede

Ink: Stampin' Up Shaded Spruce

Just Add Ink: Where the WiFi is Weak

 I have lived and played in Colorado for my entire adult life. I love our mountains and their many "moods".  Sometimes they look rugged and imposing.  Then there are times when the sun is setting that they turn black with indescribably brilliant colors behind them.  Sometimes they get a misty look - like artwork created with torn paper. And that mood is what I envisioned when I saw the colors at Just Add Ink.

I have loved that sentiment since I first saw it but have had no use for it.  I actually still don't have any use for it - I have no idea to whom I would send this card so I think I'll keep it.  I have photo ledges above my computer that I use to display my cards until they are sent.  I'll display this one up there as a daily reminder of the beauty surrounding me!

An update on our fires.  I-70 is re-open, not because that fire is out but because it's moved away from the interstate although I'm not sure I'd drive through this. (Photo from 9News)

The biggest fire is now the second biggest in Colorado history.  It is 44% contained so there is progress. Another big fire is in the mountains above where my son goes to school and is 0% contained and has burned 18,000 acres. We get regular updates from the church camp that we have spent lots of time at for over 20 years and it's quite bleak. Yesterday they said that while the fire is still far away, the wind is blowing it towards them and there is nothing to stop it, in fact, there are forests of beetle-kill trees for it to burn through. Fire crews took a few staff members up to pick buildings that they will try to save. The camp sits right on the edge of Rocky Mountain National Park so there's nothing to stop the fire after it blows through our beloved camp.  (My heart goes out to all in California impacted by fires.  Colorado has had around 200,000 acres burn - California is at 1.4 million. What a year it has been.)

Thank you to Just Add Ink for the inspiration to create a tribute to my Colorado mountains.

SUPPLY LIST

Stamps: Pinkfresh Studios Through the Trees

Dies: Altenew Mountain Die Set

Paper: Stampin' Up Purple Posy, Misty Moonlight, Seaside Spray

Ink: Stampin' Up Misty Moonlight, Versamark (with fine detail embossing powder)

Freshly Made Sketches: Keep It Simple

 It's time for a new sketch at Freshly Made Sketches! Today we have a sketch by Cécile and I think she created the sketch just for this Colorado gal!

The Colorado mountains have always been a place of peace and refuge for me and my family - hiking, biking, snow-shoeing, skiing, just breathing the air - it's a wonderful place to be.  Just getting out of the car after a drive to the mountains and taking a deep breath of air can change a bad attitude.  Worries disappear, energy appears, stress and anger drift away.  (Assuming you can handle the altitude!!!)  But right now, our mountains are in trouble.  There are four major forest fires - one of which is already the fourth biggest in Colorado history (already 138 square miles) and only 7% contained so will grow.  Another has shut down the major/east west interstate across Colorado (and the country). A third is in the mountains just above where my oldest goes to school.  There's no danger to him, but the skies are smoke-filled and orange.

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A post shared by Vail, Colorado (@vail.colorado) on Aug 15, 2020 at 4:24pm PDT

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A post shared by Vail, Colorado (@vail.colorado) on Aug 15, 2020 at 7:03am PDT

And from a local news station (KDVR.com) - here are the heroes who are fighting this.

National news is annoying - it's 90% politics, 9% coronavirus and then 1% fires in California (not Colorado).  Also did you know a town of 125,000 people in Iowa has been destroyed by a derecho?  Look up Cedar Rapids, Iowa.  Wow. But it was a week before I saw it on the news and only because Trump went (thus it's politics!)  

OK - I'm done being depressing and this isn't why you are here.  Here's one last look at my take on the peaceful mountains of Colorado.  I hope to see you playing along with us this week - it's a wonderful break from the real world!

 SUPPLY LIST

Stamps: Pinkfresh Studio My Favorite Things to Say

Dies: Concord & 9th Geometrics dies

Cardstock: Taylored Expressions Salt Water Taffy, Stampin' Up Shaded Spruce

Ink: Distress Oxides in Evergreen Bough, Pumice Stone, Tumbled Glass, Broken China, Faded Jeans

Other: Pretty Pink Posh Sea Glass

Slimline: Tic Tac Toe Mountain Scene

This might be a bit of a stretch for the Tic Tac Toe Challenge.  I am using the line for Mountain, Sunshine and Adventure.  On the surface I really didn't nail the "adventure" part.  But the challenge really helped me finish this card so I wanted to give a shout-out. When I saw the challenge, I had the mountain scene created but it was lacking something.  The "sunshine" in the Tic Tac Toe grid inspired me to focus on the sun even though my husband (whose birthday this is for) will make sarcastic comments about the sun spots (or sequins!)  The sun really filled in the space - and it "warmed" up the card.  I had been regretting doing it on white because it was so stark - but the sun and a few sequins sun spots made all the difference.

The fabulous products on this card are from Trinity Stamps (except for the fish, and I did freehand the ground and the water).  Although I have way too much of everything, I actually try to invest in multi-use products, so the rest of the slimline products that I have are basic frames, scalloped edges, etc.  This set does come with the wonky stitching (so I'm going to justify it as basic) but also the mountains and trees and clouds and so much more.  For a Colorado family that spends significant time in the Colorado Rockies, this was a must-have.  The Happy Birthday is also Trinity Stamps and is sized to fit across the slimline card but I couldn't cover my mountain scene!

So speaking of mountains and sunshine and adventure.  I know there isn't a specific adventure component on this card, but when you have to drive over this....(elevation 12,005)...

Look closely for the road to the left

To do this...

It's an adventure!!!  And there was even wildlife!

I must have done something right on this card because my husband has it displayed on his dresser. Most cards get opened and forgotten.

Thank you to the Tic Tac Toe Challenge for the inspiration to finish this card.

SUPPLY LIST
Dies: Trinity Stamps Wonky Stitched Wilderness (all except fish) and Scripty Birthday Greetings
Cardstock: Stampin' Up Just Jade, Shaded Spruce, Balmy Blue, Crushed Curry, Gray Granite, Cinnamon Cider

Other: Wink of Stella Yellow (on the fish)

Freshly Made Sketches: You Got This

It's time for a new sketch at Freshly Made Sketches! Today we have a sketch by Jacquie and here’s what I did with it!

I turned the ovals and circles into mountains and a moose!

That smug look on his face led me to the sentiment.  This is a good one to have in my stash because surely at some point, one of my sons will have a "you got this" moment.  Plus moose are meaningful to us. The mountain church camp that we spent time at as a family and they went with youth groups often had moose sightings.  I just looked it up and there are only an estimated 2,000 moose in Colorado so it was a big deal.

The dies are from Poppystamps.  The moose and trees are from their "whittle" collection that I've used a number of times lately.  I think the whittles have been around but I only recently discovered them.  I think they are just perfect for my sons in their early 20s because the animals are cute but not cutesy. There are also a number of stamp sets to go with the animals including a variety of sentiments from sweet to snarky - but go figure, the only set I don't have is the one with the "moose" sentiment!

I hope to see you playing along with us this week at Freshly Made Sketches!

SUPPLY LIST

Stamps: Avery Elle Simply Sentiments

Dies: Poppystamps Mountain Background, Whittle Moose, Whittle Trees; Avery Elle Simple Sentiments dies

Cardstock: Stampin' Up Gray Granite, Basic Gray, Old Olive, Mossy Meadow, Cinnamon Cider
Other: Pretty Pink Posh Espresso Jewels

CAS(E) this Sketch: Big Wish

My brother's birthday is this week.  I wanted to use the same mountains that I used here.  In that post I described my son's climb up a 14,000 foot mountain.  His hiking partner was my brother.  He's a younger brother, but neither of us are actually . . . young. And my poor brother has had knee and back problems.  There was a long recovery period afterwards - I'm not sure my 19-year old son grasps how hard that was for my brother.

So for my brother's birthday, I wanted to commemorate that hike with this fabulous mountain die set!


I love this die set but have found it somewhat difficult to come up with a layout because it is so big.  But this card was meant to be after I saw the sketch at CAS(E) this Sketch.

The sketch left me all that wide open space for my mountains!  I followed the sketch right down to the sentiment being to the right at the bottom. I adore sketches!!  I kept it masculine but added some fun with the patterns and the border.  It's not a work of art - but it's one of those cards that is just right for who it is intended for!!
SUPPLY LIST Stamps: Reverse Confetti Birthday Wishes, WPlus9 Encouraging Words (the birds - retired) Dies: Sizzix Tim Holtz Alpine 

Freshly Made Sketches 2: Move Mountains

Yesterday, we had a new sketch from Freshly Made Sketches and I had two ideas.  For yesterday's official post, I used an autumn wreath.  Today I am "moving mountains"!


This card is going in my stash to use for my youngest son away at college that I'll give to him at a time that he's facing a big decision or struggling with a problem.  Before he left for college this year, he and my brother hiked a 14,000-foot mountain here in Colorado.  I told him at the time that when he's facing tough times in the future, he will remember that he made that climb and feel stronger for it.  So when I saw the new mountain die from Tim Holtz, I had to have it.

And here's the sketch again!

SUPPLY LIST

Stamps: WPlus9 Encouraging Words (sentiment and the birds)

Dies: Tim Holtz Alpine dies

Other: Stampin' Up Subtle Embossing folder

Taylored Expressions: A Birthday Bear

It's my husband's birthday this weekend.  He is by far the hardest person I have to make cards for.  There can't be a hint of bling or pattern or bright colors.  I'm even a bit worried about the splatter on this card - but here's what I came up with.

The bear comes from a Taylored Expressions die set that was released for the holidays but is absolutely perfect for a big brown bear.  I used my amazing Taylored Expressions Blender Brushes and a bit of post-it tape to mask a line to brush on the ground, then moved it to brush on the sky. There are so many wonderful techniques for these brushes - but I adore them most when I need to create a hint of sky!!  I gave the bear a few trees and a few splatters - and it's just right.

We live in a southeast suburb of Denver, Colorado, which if you didn't know - isn't in the mountains.  It's pretty darn flat where I am - but I do have a fabulous view of the mountains.  I also have wildlife that wanders down.  We moved about a year ago and this happened about a month after we moved - not our yard, but just a few blocks away! Thus the reason that the bear is perfect on my husband's card - or maybe it's because he can be a big grumpy bear!!!

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Taylored Expressions: Leafy Backgrounds

I've been doing quite a bit of playing with watercolors lately. It's been a difficult medium for me to embrace because I have to let go of some control which is not my best thing! You have to be able to embrace random puddles, splatters and swooshes of color but generally I want to know where everything ends up.  Having said that, there really are fabulous uses that work even for me (and as I play more, I find that I am becoming more and more comfortable)!  I like a simple wash of color in the background.  I like painting in a heat embossed image (where the embossing holds the color in one place).  And it turns out I love creating nature scenes - because random works for that!

As I was playing around with Taylored Expressions new Liquid Watercolors, I found a way to create leafy backgrounds for those nature scenes.


I did it with a plastic sandwich bag.  If you lightly paint some color on a plastic bag, it beads up - then use the bag to smoosh the color in the area you want on a dry piece of watercolor cardstock. You get leaves!!  I did some leaves in Peapod, then I added some Lemon Meringue to another drop of Peapod to get yellower leaves and smooshed that on. Finally I loosely painted a light wash of that yellower green over the tree tops and a light wash of Chocolate Truffle mixed with some Candy Corn to get the ground. (I love that  you can mix to get the color you want!).  And of course, a watered down wash of Cookie Monster for the sky.


I pulled out some of my all-time favorite nature products from Taylored Expressions to finish up the scene.


I am really looking forward to playing around with an autumn scene using this technique!  I love that I can embrace the random look of watercolors in a controlled way!!

SUPPLY LIST

Taylored Expressions Sneak Peek Day 2: Go Beep and Smell the Pines

It's day 2 of sneak peeks for the May release from Taylored Expressions!! Today we are going to "go beep" and then head out in our trailer to "smell the pines"!

Be sure to check out all of the other designers starting on the Taylored Expressions blog because there is just too much for one designer to show off in just a few days.

All the products that I have used are linked at the bottom, but remember that new products aren't available until Thursday, May 5, 7 a.m. PST.

Taylored Expressions is celebrating Release Week with some fabulous giveaways! Visit the TE blog to answer Taylor's Question of the Day for a chance to win a prize from the latest release!

Go Beep

I am absolutely in love with the new sentiment set Go Beep. It's full of fun fonts and sentiments that range from birthday, to love, to just simply moving through life. I picked the sentiment for this card because I adore the look of it - the actual words are great too - but I absolutely love the various fonts and the way they flow together.

There is a great die set with this release called On the Road-Beetle. It's charming, but I didn't use it because I had a strong mental image of this card (which rarely happens) and the die-cut beetle didn't fit. I looked through older stamps and found the Wheely Great Stamp & Die Combo. Not only were the beetles the perfect size, but one stamp was this beetle with the flowers which worked perfectly with the sentiment. (I love it when an idea comes together!)

It's not the norm but I'm going to use this as a graduation card. Is there any better way to send a new grad into the future than wishing them joy?!
Here's the supply list for this card, but keep reading because there's another card just after it. Remember, the links won't work until release day on Thursday.
SUPPLY LIST

Go Beep

Wheely Great stamp & die combo

Premium Cardstock - Sugar Cube

TE Sequins - Rainbow Brights Flowers

InLinkz.com

Happy Trails - Smell the Pines

I feel like this next stamp set is made for me! I am a long-time camper and hiker from the time I was just a little one and my parents had a big red pick-up and a camper topper. My dad died when I was quite young, but the most vivid memory I have of him was when he was trying to help us cross a creek on a hike and struggling to pull a huge log over to it as a bridge, but when he dropped it over the creek, it shattered. He laughed until he cried!

I married my husband partially because of our mutual love of the Colorado outdoors. We've definitely aged over time - because we started with backpacks and wilderness, then we got a bigger tent and kept it near the car so we could cook eat (and drink!), then when the kids came along we got a pop-up camper - and now we have a small condo in a mountain town!!  Here's a 20-year old picture of my oldest son bathing on a picnic table with sun-warmed water.

And here's my 16-year old just last summer.

Here's what's important about this long story. Whether we are backpacking in the wilderness or sitting on the deck of the condo - every single time we comment that all our troubles disappear and life is better from the moment we step out of the car.  It's the smell of the pines!  It truly is. It's funny to watch all four of us step out of the car and simultaneously close our eyes and take a deep breath. It doesn't matter whether my husband and I are arguing, whether I have a big project worrying me, or whether the teenagers are being...teenagers - we are better people in the mountains. So this stamp set couldn't be much more perfect!

I kept my card very simple just because of my life-is-simpler theme, so I didn't add any of the other stamps in the set - there's a campfire and a picnic table, there's a charming bear and a cute little porcupine, and so much more! The stamp set itself - Happy Trails - is from a previous release. What's new with this release are the dies. Isn't it amazing how reliant we have all become on our dies? In this case, I was able to stamp the trees and plop my trailer right on top. There are actually two sets of dies - I used the set called Happy Trails - Trailers. There's also a set for the animals and some of the other items called Happy Trails - Accessories.

I hope I didn't chatter too long because you definitely want to take the time to pop over to the Taylored Expressions blog to answer the question for a chance to win prizes and then check out all of the sneak peeks from the other designers.
SUPPLY LIST

Happy Trails	Happy Trails - Trailers Dies	Stitched Rectangle Stacklets	Embossing Folder - Woodgrain
Premium Cardstock - Sugar Cube	TE Sequins - Build a Scene

InLinkz.com

It Won't Be Easy, But It Will Be Worth It

It's been an extremely busy few weeks for my family.  My recent high school graduate made some very important decisions and we have been working hard to start him moving in his chosen direction. He's a very bright kid and had numerous college acceptances and scholarships, but he has zero idea what he wants to do with his life.  Over the years, we've tried to present different sides of the decision.  We told him neither my husband and I were really ready for college and postponing would be an acceptable decision - although we've been very clear that this is a tougher road given we would not allow him to simply sit in our home and work part-time. On the other hand, we also told him that even if he doesn't know what he wants to do, college is a safe place to move away from your parents and begin to grow up.

He announced his decision a month ago - he's deferring for a year.  He double-checked with his college choices and all allow deferrals and even let him keep his scholarships.  So it seems there's no harm in delaying.  However, in making his decision, he sort of missed the part that he couldn't continue just to sit in our home, eat our food, get laundry done, etc.  The compromise is that he could move to our condo in the mountains and get a job, then besides his living expenses, he would have to pay us enough to cover our costs.  Mountain living isn't cheap so fingers crossed this works for him, but seriously, is this a lucky kid? The town is nestled over to the right at the base of the mountain.

The town of Frisco is absolutely charming (although maybe not so much for a teenage boy).

There are so many activities - hiking, fishing, skiing, biking - and then tons of community activities. All of these towns have to cater not only to tourists, but also to a large number of young people who come in to work at the mountain resorts.  He's been a musician his whole life and there are multiple community bands.  He loves to play the card game, Magic, and there are multiple groups of young people who gather to do that.  It's going to be a good year - after he gets over the tough transition of living on his own.

He moved this weekend.

Last week, when we made a last trip up to haul out our personal stuff to make room for his life, I left a card behind for him to find that first day on his own.  I got the WPlus9 set Encouraging Words when I was planning on sending regular cards to him in college.  I wanted to create mountains scenes for him to feel closer to his home in Colorado.  But it turns out that this set is absolutely perfect to encourage him in his new life in the mountains.

I know he'll make it, but it's hard for this mother to realize that he'll probably be hungry at times (as he's not great at managing his money), that he'll be walking around in smelly, wrinkled clothes (because what teen boy wants to go to the laundromat) and he'll have to weather his first illness without his parents to get him chicken noodle soup from Costco!  On the other hand, that child routinely wakes me in the middle of the night because he plays video games, gets excited and yells. I'm looking forward to full nights of sleep!
We would all appreciate a prayer during this time of transition.
SUPPLY LIST

WPlus9 Encouraging Words	Hemp Cord - Natural	SSS Sunshine Ink	SSS Fossil Ink
SSS Stone Ink	SSS Cobblestone Ink	SSS Sparrow Ink	SSS Surf Blue Ink
SSS Cloudy Sky Ink

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