SOMETHING TO PONDER

We'll be on our way home tomorrow after a week of fun in the sun.  Right now it's pouring and thundering with lightning flashing all around us.  Thankfully, we already packed the car except for one bag we need in the morning; so we didn't have to deal with the heavy rain.  It was a great week!

Here's a question to ponder:  If snowflakes are winter's butterflies, does that mean butterflies are summer's snowflakes?  Hmmm...

JUST A TIP FROM OBX TODAY!

Having a wonderful, relaxing vacation this week at "our" beach house.  No card for today, but here are two tips for making spinner cards:

1.  I use dental floss or fishing line for the spinner so that it doesn't stretch.

2.  To reset the spinner, instead of twirling it with my fingers, I just blow on one side of the spinner and close the card.

Hope you're staying cool today wherever you are!  Remember, when it gets really hot, it beats chipping ice off the windshield!

COOL CARD FOR A HOT FRIEND

When my Silver Stamper friend from Oklahoma wrote and told me that the temps were over 100 this week, I just had to send her a card to make her feel cool.

Combining two seasons into one, I embellished the quilted snowflake with a foil butterfly from my scrap drawer.

...and I thought today's temp of 93 here in NJ was hot!

PAPER PLAYERS--Water Color

Here's another card from another page of the Painterly Days book featured in the post below--and just in time for the latest Paper Players challenge!

This one is called "Peonies and Butterflies."  After this post, I will be adding some shimmer water color paint to the blossom.

The pages in this book have made water coloring so much easier and fun for me!

SUCCESS AT LAST!

My attempts at water coloring have been frustrating, to say the least.  That is UNTIL I discovered a delightful adult coloring book featured on Kristina Werner's blog.  The title is, ":Painterly Days, Flowers" by Kristi Rice and is available on Amazon.

After reading her tips and admiring the flowers and foliage on each page, I got out my water brush and three types of paints:  watercolor crayons, Peerless paints, and a set of pearlized paints.  I colored three flowers and the foliage on the first page of anemones just to see how they each differed.  I started with the crayon paints, which is what you see on this card and also turned out to be the best, in my opinion.

Starting at the top, I painted the flower and leaves with the pearlized paints.  Although my least favorite, these paints work nicely over other paints to give them a sheer pearly finish.  They also did not blend well.

Next, in the left bottom corner, is the Peerless sample.  This also did not blend well, which was surprising.  It could be the paper, a cheap brush or just my lack of experience.

However, the WC crayons (Lyra) blended nicely and was the most realistic of all three flowers.

As for the card itself, I had a lot of fun putting it together.  Using the WC crayons, I first painted the blossom, berries and leaves, cutting it down to a strip for the front of the card.  I mounted it on a piece of green cs, using the same cs for the "hello" die cut.   I found the butterfly in my stash, and it went perfectly with the orange flower center.  I gave it some shine with my Wink of Stella.  Before assembling the completed strip, I ran the card through the Big Shot with a floral ef to give it some texture.

Not wanting to waste anything left over, I made a second card with the scraps.  The bird was die cut from a scrap of marbled metallic paper and backed with the same gray paper as the greeting.

I can see that I'll be using this beautiful water coloring book a lot!

POST SURGERY GET WELL

This is the card I made for my friend, Jackie, who recently had hernia surgery.  Inside, I made a checklist of things she should or should not do until she heals.  Of course, stamping was on the OK list!

At the end of the list, I wrote ""Enjoy your VACovery!"

One of the things I love about making and sending handmade cards is that you can make them say whatever is appropriate to the person.  I've often said that sending cards with personal messages inside is truly a ministry and means a lot to those who receive them.  It's a wonderful way to brighten someone's day!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMERICA!

What a great privilege it is to live in this great country of ours!  I thank God every day for my family and friends, my home, the beauty that surrounds us and the freedom we all enjoy every day.  In spite of enemies who would tear us down, this is still the only place I'd want to be.  I'm especially grateful to have my children and grandchildren nearby.

Happy Fourth of July to all my blogging friends!

GOODBYE JUNE, HELLO JULY BIRTHDAY

 This card was originally the June page from the Paper Pumpkin perpetual calendar.  As I've done at the end of each month, I  carefully peeled the month off and cut down the dsp to fit a card front.

After attaching the dsp, along with the gold foil banner, I added the scalloped circle, butterflies and birthday banner.  A few matching sequins and some gems for the large butterfly, and the card was done.

I'm so glad these calendar pages can be redone to serve another purpose.