Tag Archives: Beautiful Wings Embosslit

A Home for the Birds

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If you’ve followed me for any time at all, you likely have guessed that I love birds. Their songs wake me in the morning and draw me outside during the day.   In the middle of a walk or hike I’ve been known to stop in order to peer into the trees at the sound of a new voice.  It  shouldn’t be a terrible surprise to learn that I’ve been playing around with the idea of a bird house:

Maui Stamper Home for the BirdsThis is my first attempt but I can assure you it’s not my last – I have a lot of ideas in my head!  I wanted to see what worked in terms of construction techniques and proportions.  I’m not sure I would make another bird house this large, but then again, I surprise myself sometimes 🙂

Maui Stamper Home for the BirdsI used both the Woodgrain Background stamp and the Wood grain TIEF to create, well, wood grain (um, I think that’s a giant DUH.)  I used the stamp on the walls of the house, but for the roof I wanted more texture.  The Texture Boutique Embossing Machine made short work of adding wood grain texture to my card stock.  (I’m sorry to say that this product was available for a limited time, and will not be available again until June 1.)  A little sponging helps that texture stand out even more, and also adds dimension to corners and openings.

Maui Stamper Home for the BirdsI added a few of the tiniest butterflies from the Beautiful Wings Embosslit to the front, and rolled up a sliver of card stock to create a perch at the front door.  (The photo above is just crooked enough to make me a little dizzy!)

Maui Stamper Home for the BirdsI was going for a “climbing vine” look on this side, and if you are an imaginative sort of person perhaps that’s the look you’ll see.

There will be more bird houses!  I’ve got a lot of ideas and a few adjustments to try.  I would LOVE your constructive feedback and suggestions, so comment away!

 

 

Feliz Dia de la Madre

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Sara sent a Mother’s Day card from Spain.  She wrote a lovely note that made me miss her all the more, and included an apology for the card.   ” …card giving isn’t really a ‘thing’ in Sevilla.  It was either this or one that said ‘I ❤ Mami’ on the front”:

Feliz Dia de la Madre

I had to laugh, because as soon as I saw this card I thought “PUNCHES!”

Happy Birthday Dia de la Madre

  • All Holidays stamp set
  • Very Vanilla, Rose Red, Pear Pizazz, Old Olive and Pink Pirouette card stock
  • Springtime Vintage DSP from the Occasions Mini catalog
  • Rose Red classic ink pad
  • Pear Pizazz seam binding – still available!
  • 1 and 1 1/4 inch circle punches; Triple heart punch
  • Big Shot and Beautiful Wings embosslit

Pretty amazing, wouldn’t you say? And she promises to hand-deliver my gift when next we meet.

From the other side of the world I received a box with awesome spices (cardamom, garam masala and cardamom), Tim Tams (perhaps the most amazing cookies in the world) and (drum roll please) TWO Chocolate Wombats.  Yep, you read that right.   Since rabbits are something of a pest in Australia the government implored chocolate companies not to glorify them.  I have to admit that Chocolate Wombats are Pretty Darn Cute.

Closer to home, my son glazed a pair of plates for me that his eldest sister threw on the wheel but never finished.   What a team!   We had a wonderful brunch at Longhi’s (I had the fritatta, a Mimosa, and a French Press of Maui Mokka) and then he studied for AP exams.   Oh, these are good days.

Why you shouldn’t roast Peeps

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I have permission to share this with you:

Cheryl with a roasted Peep

That’s what a Peep looks like when it’s been roasted at Girl Scout camp!  And if that isn’t the perfect sweatshirt for a Girl Scout Leader, I don’t know what is.  The best part was when Cheryl started to eat it…but I think I was doubled over laughing so hard I didn’t get that photo.

Moving on…

QBee's basket

  • Well Scripted (Retired) stamp set
  • Pear Pizazz, Daffodil Delight, Whisper White and Pretty in Pink card stock
  • Pear Pizazz Classic ink pad
  • Scallop oval, large oval and oval punches
  • Pear Pizazz 1/2 inch stitched poly ribbon and white crochet thread
  • Ice Cream Parlor (retired) buttons
  • Big Shot, Scallop Circle Bigz, Petals a Plenty Embossing folder and Beautiful Wings embosslit
  • Tombo, the wonder adhesive

I would love to tell you that I came up with this idea myself but I cannot tell a lie; I did not.  Brenda, aka QBee, designed this deceivingly simple basket and even made a video tutorial that is clear and very easy to follow.  Please check out QBee’s Quest, and tell her I sent you.  She put the little handle across the narrow portion of the basket, but I switched it to the wide end.  It’s cute either way.

Here’s another view:

QBee's Easter basket from above

You could make a bunch of these very quickly, because once you’ve done one you can do oodles.   These would be very cute little Easter place card holders, filled with chocolates (aaack!  no!!) or an Easter egg on a bed of grass.

 

It’s a bird…it’s a plane…it’s a…carrot??

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Here’s Not Quite Ready For Carrot Time candidate #2:

Petal Cone with butterflies

  • French Script stamp set
  • Pumpkin Pie, Tangerine Tango, Daffodil Delight, Pear Pizazz and Always Artichoke card stock
  • Pumpkin Pie Classic ink pad
  • Big Shot, Petal Cone Bigz Die, Beautiful Wings Embosslit
  • Scallop Circle punch, gold brad, Always Artichoke Seam Binding

I tried a number of arrangements but finally had to content myself with these carrot-crazed butterflies – they looked better in my head than on paper.  Don’t you hate it when that happens?  It’s always fun to play with all of the butterflies you end up with using the Beautiful Wings Embosslit – each crank of the Big Shot turns out 5 from itty bitty to thunb-sized, and I confess that I love just seeing them heaped up on my desk.

Captain Stupidhead has been especially needy recently.  He was really stressed out by all the noise and disruption that Builder Dan brought indoors, and now that the house is quiet he spends too much time worrying about where I am and what I am doing (and why it does not involve scratching his head).  I was trying to apply some rub-ons yesterday afternoon, and he kept shoving his head against my hand.  He ruined 3 rub-ons that way, pushing them out of alignment while I was trying to rub them in place.  Big Baby.  If he could have his way, I would hold him and brush him and feed him and open/close/open/close the door all day long.  He is seriously mis-informed.

 

Thankful

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And a very belated Happy Thanksgiving to you all:

Happy Thanksgiving

  • Just Believe and Thankful For stamp sets
  • Very Vanilla, Peach Parfait and Chocolate Chip card stock
  • Early Espresso, Peach Parfait and Cajun Craze Classic ink pads
  • Chocolate Chip taffeta ribbon (retired)
  • Big Shot, Top Note Bigz die and Beautiful Wings Embosslit

The problem with taking an extended blogging leave of absence is that when I return I have WAY too much to tell you in one post, plus there’s always the extraneous blather I ladle over the top.  It’s sort of like a Thanksgiving dinner plate, overloaded with food and drowned in gravy.

I feel obliged to begin by saying that I took a number of photos using a new set up and I don’t much care for the results.  I am too lazy to go back and re-take the photographs, so I ask your indulgence and hope you’ll forgive the odd tint these photos share.  I don’t want you to get the impression that my “set-up” is anything sophisticated.  It consists of a couple of sheets of foam core (which have just about reached the end of their useful lives) and my much-abused Casio point-and-push camera.  I normally take the photos in the morning downstairs in my kitchen, because the light is absolutely gorgeous.  For some unfathomable reason I decided to change something that wasn’t broken and tried taking them upstairs at night in my stamp studio with the Ott light.  Bad decision.  If it’s not broken…and all that.  I’ll go back to the kitchen.

And back to the kitchen is what I really want to talk about.  I’ve worked and sat and talked in a lot of kitchens in my life.  They’ve been places to cook, eat, talk, confess, cry, laugh and make memories.  This past Thanksgiving I shared a kitchen with two wonderful friends and can’t wait to repeat the experience.  I’ve been the Thanksgiving Executive Chef for most of the past 20 years we’ve lived in Hawaii, and it was a tremendous joy to share the responsibilities this year.  Three talented cooks joining forces yielded one fabulous meal – and we were all relaxed and able to enjoy the meal.  I know – what a concept!

Meanwhile, a quarter of the way around the world my firstborn was preparing her first solo Thanksgiving feast.  We held a number of consultations online and on the phone as we tried to compensate for her lack of resources – some due to finances and being in that “just starting out” stage of life, and some due to location.  Her 11 pound Thanksgiving turkey cost $85 – in Perth, Australia!  The one store that carried canned pumpkin (at $8 a can) was sold out, and the frozen cranberries had seeds.  A little Yankee ingenuity and shared effort throughout her international community of friends yielded marvelous results, and I’m looking forward to seeing the photos (hint, hint, Carol!)

I hope your Thanksgiving kitchen was rich in love and memories.

The cutest little flower pot you’ll ever see

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I was in my local hardware store the other day and spotted the cutest little clay pot you have ever seen – all of 1 1/2 inches tall.  It was $2 which almost caused me to pass it up, but I’m glad I was feeling extravagant:

Tiny Bouquet

Don’t you love it?  I’m not a huge punch-art fan, but I love the flowers you can make with punches.  These are made from the 5 petal flower (the pointed one) and the 1 inch and 3/4 inch circles.  The tiny pale ones are made with the Bitty Punches, and the leaves are from the XL Two Step Bird punch.  I had to put int a few butterflies from the Beautiful Wings Embosslit too.  Here’s another view:

Tiny Bouquet

I attached the flowers with E-6000 adhesive because it’s super-goopy, and the butterflies and Bitty Punch flowers are held on with straight pins.   I wish the little pot had been more reasonably priced, because these would be cute gifts.  It really wasn’t fair – the big 4 inch pot sitting next to it was 79 cents!  Ah well, I would have driven myself crazy making all those little flowers.

Make a little note on your calendar to check in all next week.  I’m participating in my first blog hop and it promises to be full of wonderful inspiration.

Beautiful Wings In Color

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A couple of weeks ago, I CASE-d a card using all of the new In Colors in the 2010-2011 Idea Book and Catalog. Laurie Zoellmer at www.stampingnut.blogspot.comstampingnut.blogspot.com had such a great idea that I wanted to try a couple of other versions. Of course, I wasn’t thinking about cutting out all of those butterflies – even with the help of the Big Shot – when I decided to do this for a swap that turned out to have 25 participants:

In Color Butterflies

I worked on this one at Boy Scout camp too – a friend was there, and she helped me with the stamping. Each card is a little different since I just mixed and matched the butterflies. They’re made with the In Color selections for 2010-2011: Concord Crush, Blushing Bride, Pear Pizzazz, Peach Parfait and Poppy Parade. Just a couple of dots of Tombo Adhesive holds each one in place. That stuff is amazing. I wish it had been around when my kids were small! (JUST KIDDING. Don’t report me.)

The envelopes are the best part

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Today’s project is brought to you by the Letter E…for Envelope!

I’ve seen a number of projects recently where the crafter ran the envelope flap through the Big Shot with an embossing folder.  I finally gave it a try, and I have to tell you it’s really easy and a real wow:

Elegant Bouquet Envelope

I’ll try to get some photos of my technique.  I only embossed the back flap, and it was simple to line it up in the Impressions folder and run it through the Big Shot.  The trick is to put the folder through sideways, sending the body of the envelope through the Big Shot first (and outside of the folder).  I know, sorry, I’m visual too – I’ll set up my Very Sophisticated Photographic Equipment (point-and-shoot) and take some photos for you.

Here’s the rest of the project:

Beautiful Wings note cards

  • Baroque Border Stampin’ Around Wheel
  • Always Artichoke Classic ink cartridge
  • Whisper White and Lovely Lilac, Almost Amethyst, Sage Shadow, Bashful Blue and Brocade Blue card stock
  • Big Shot and Beautiful Wings Embosslit
  • Tombo Multi-purpose Adhesive; Champagne Mist Shimmer Paint
  • Envelope:  Elegant Bouquet Impressions Folder

These go together really quickly and only use a quarter sheet of cardstock  each of color and Whisper White for the note card.  I have a stash of “extra” butterflies made with the Beautiful Wings Embosslit – it cuts five at a time, and if you only need the little itty bitty one, you have four left over.  The smaller ones make fun confetti, but this is the largest one and it’s almost perfect.  It will be really perfect when the new 2010-2011 Idea Book and Catalog merchandise is available and a Certain Product can be added…but I’ll have to save that news for later.

Regal Roses

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The beautiful flowers in the new Elements of Style stamp set have to be old fashioned roses.  My grandmother had a beautiful pink rose that looked much like this growing on the fence in her back yard.  It was pink and it was named Carol – my mother’s name – and Gramsie took great pride in it.  All of the roses in her garden had such intoxicating scents – one time she gave me a bouquet to take back to school after I visited her, and a complete stranger actually stopped me and asked to smell them up close.  I imagine these roses to have that kind of wonderful fragrance:

Elements of Style Regal Roses

  • Elements of Style stamp set
  • Certainly Celery and Regal Rose card stock;  Watercolor paper
  • Sahara Sand Classic ink pad;  Chocolate Chip Stampin’ Write marker
  • Old Olive, Crushed Curry and Regal Rose Classic ink refills
  • Scallop Trim Border punch; Aquapainter
  • Chocolate Chip 5/8″ Satin Ribbon

I’m debating on whether or not I should add a sentiment.  The watercolor paper has quite a bit of texture so I’m not sure I would get the look I want.  I think I’ll add the appropriate message to the inside of the card when I’m ready to send it.  I like to have a few “ready to personalize” cards set aside for special occasions.

Are you wondering where that Sahara Sand Classic ink is?  When I want to watercolor something with this much detail but I don’t want to see the lines on the finished card, I use Sahara Sand to put the image on the paper and then use the Aquapainter to add my color.  If you look really closely you’ll see some lines in some of the roses, but for the most part the Sahara Sand ink disappears.  Pretty sneaky, wouldn’t you say?

Fond Farewell to Summer Sun

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You know, I’m actually going to miss Summer Sun.  I didn’t use it a lot, but its deep, rich color was sometimes just the shade I needed.   When I saw Riley’s choices for this week’s Color Dare Challenge I started thinking about that yellow.  For me, the key to using bold color is getting the Goldilocks dose – not too little, not too much, but just right:

Mojo135 Awash with Flowers Color Dare Challenge Stampin Up!

  • Awash with Flowers, Teeny Tiny Wishes, Flight of the Butterfly, Wings of Friendship and Linen (retired) stamp sets
  • Very Vanilla, Summer Sun, Certainly Celery and Old Olive card stock
  • Summer Sun and Olive Olive Classic ink pads
  • Summer Sun and Certainly Celery Classic ink refills and the Aquapainter
  • Big Shot, Perfect Polka Dots Embossing Folder and the Beautiful Wings Embosslit
  • Scallop Border and Corner Rounder punches, White Gel pen, and Very Vanilla Taffeta ribbon

This sketch is number 135 from Mojo Monday (yes, I am aware it is Thursday – sometimes life gets in the way.)  I wasn’t sure if I would like it but once I decided to skip the fancy shape for the focal point it was an easy sketch to use.  I stamped the larger flowers first and then made a mask to cover them before stamping the smaller stemmed flowers.  Masking is an under-rated technique!

As if two challenges weren’t enough for one post, I’ve also been given a Sunshine Award from my blogging friend Lisa.  The rules of the award state that I need to pass it on, and that’s a tough choice for me.  Lisa awarded one of the people I regularly follow – Melissa Huie – so in no particular order, here are a few other stamping bloggers whose work I admire:

I hope you’ll enjoy the work of these talented artists as much as I do.  They each have a different perspective, but the one thing they have in common is uncommon creativity.

And thanks, Lisa!  You made my day.