Almost Pumpkin Time!

Mark's Finest Papers Speedy Fox and Friends #227 has a new challenge. It is to use a silhouette stamp on a card. So I learned a new terminology today. As soon as I read the challenge, I knew what these stamps are that I own that are so hard to ink and use evenly.

I combined these two little stamp sets to make a Halloween card for my mother-in-law. I stamped them on my yellow card stock and backed it all with an embossed, black paper. I love the simple effect. The funny part is, I want to know what the two birds are looking at! Is there a cat coming in their direction, or perhaps another bird dropped a nice tidbit on the ground.

I may have to start writing little short stories on the backs of some of the cards, ha!

Worthwhile Projects

It's a rainy, foggy day in the Yellowstone area. Temps hovering around 51-53 degrees. Good time for a project.

Actually I've volunteered for and been working on a project for the cabins we take care of. The duvet covers are in need of repair and a sewing machine was secured for me so I've been repairing, washing and refilling them, bed by bed, room by room.

When I saw that the Mark's Finest Papers Sketch with a Twist Challenge #113 included stitching of some sort, I knew what I would do. I love the look of the stitches on the paper! The images are from a pack called Vintage Threads by TPC Studio. I used silver embossing powder to show them off on the white card stock. I used blue homemade card stock for the base card and ran across these cute flowers to pop it out.

This was fun...now back to the duvets!

A Walk in the Woods

I've been experimenting with backgrounds. Like I don't have a case full of paper I could readily use! I made a very intricate base with the same two colors of green (Ranger Lettuce and Memento Cottage Ivy) and black trees with some of them embossed. It was so dark I tossed it and started over! I think less is usually more so here are those same colors. The plant is dried fern that I inked and imprinted onto the sheet. Looks simple, took all day off and on. I used a light green card stock from my homemade supply.

I will enter this in the Mark's Finest Papers Color Challenge # 37
the colors this week are Green, Black and White; and
Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps Challenge Blog

School Days...

Mark's Finest Papers has a new Challenge out for Simple Salutations #112. The challenge is to make a card using your favorite school subject as your theme. Ugh! My favorite subject was anything that got a passing grade for showing up...seriously! If only I knew then what I know now :-)

I choose music as my subject because even though I can't sing my way out of a can, I took 2 years of chorus in high school: 1. Because they couldn't kick me out of the choir and 2. It fulfilled my basic requirements for participation.

NOW I understand how hard dyslexia is on students and that I have the ability that allows me to Follow My Heart to Create. So like my card says...Find your heart. Be yourself!

I will also submit this card to Word Art Wednesday for their "Anything Goes" Challenge.

Gnomes and Butterflies

Those two just go together don't they? I have 3 gnomes in my flowers in Florida and you have to keep an eye on them. They like to get up and move around to other areas every now and then. When I inherited my gnomes about 15 years ago, I brushed them down, cleaned them up and repainted them in all their detail. They are in need of another make over but coloring this little guy reminded me of the fun I had before and how nice they looked all polished and painted.

This card is mainly for Mark's Finest Papers Color Challenge this week. The colors are Orange, Yellow and Pink. This gnome is from the mfp Garden Art Stamp Set.

I will also enter this card in Word Art Wednesday this week.

Oriental Challenge

I thought this Mark's Finest Papers Oriental Challenge was such a clean line, I decided to participate. The bird and saying are from MFP's Birds Of The Orient Stamp Set. Check it out and join in!

To Paint or Not To Paint

Ok, so I'm a real novice! I'm having fun with it though. I took a pen & ink with watercolor course in July and am trying my hand at a background every now and then. (In the meantime I practice in a watercolor book only for my eyes!)

Mark's Finest Papers has a Challenge this week with the theme of bear(s). I have this cute stamp from Mostly Animals and the sentiment is from MFP's Light My Way Home Stamp Set.

Crying Wolf!

Friends of Speedy TV with Mark's Finest Papers have Challenge #137 out this week I thought I would try. They called for the colors Yellow and Grey. I've been wanting to make a card with this Yellowstone wolf stamp for some time and this came to me. The colors are perfect and with the super moon on the wane, I can only imagine the time the wolves and their new pups had baying at it in its peak!

The wolves in Yellowstone are typically grey on grey, grey with black or grey with some brown mixed in. Hmm, I wonder why I thought of this stamp when I read the color grey! :) We've been lucky enough to spot a wolf or two and even a coyote the other day. The wild creatures here are so amazing.

 

Snow Shoeing

When it's almost 90 degrees outside, what better way to cool down than with a Christmas scene? I'm talking  about Mark's Finest Papers and the Sketch With A Twist (SWAT) Challenge #111. I was lucky enough to have brought this MFP stamp with me to Yellowstone. It turned out so pretty I'll have to make more like it when I return home to Florida in October! This Challenge is about the sketch and was to include something with trees.

I took a pen and ink and watercolor course recently and one thing the instructor really loves is sketching and painting tree trunks. I have to agree. The trunks have a lovely personality of their own. This stamp shows the trunk of an Aspen tree which has a bark that is so pretty and smooth. Throw in the beautifully formed fir tree and it makes a nice picture. Thanks MFP for the inspiration!

Happy Birthday for a Grandson!

We are so proud of the first grandchild to go to college. Christian is going in to his 2nd year at Kennesaw State College in Atlanta and has managed to grab an RA (Resident Adviser) position. Being a guy, I kept this card simple but used 2 Montana bird feathers to help with the saying.

Inside says Happy Birthday of course. I am submitting this card for the Speedy Fox and Friends Challenge 224 for Mark's Finest Papers. I love working on the Challenges as they give me wonderful ideas for cards. Thanks MFP!

Color Challenge #34

I made this card for a friend who had surgery last week. I was surprised at how difficult it was to line the stripes up. I will submit this card for this week's color challenge with Mark's Finest Papers http://mfpspeedytv.ning.com/. The color's are brown, rose and beige.

I love my Cuttlebug butterfly set that cuts and embosses. The butterfly and card stock is from my home-made paper supply.

 

Simple Salutations Challenge #109

Mark's Finest Papers has so many good challenges! I am inspired by them each week. Follow along at http://mfpspeedytv.ning.com/page/simple-salutations-challenge-109. This one is called Simple Salutations and the requirement is to use an oriental looking paper for the background. I love the MFP tiger and used it here after adding some color.
The cardstock is pink to match the pink flowers and I also cut a pink background from my pink supply to back the caption and tiger.

I'm dreaming of the beach!

Since we arrived at Yellowstone, we have experienced one day without rain. Two of those days have been rain 24 hrs a day. Wow. This is the desert and this is unusual for this area in this time of year. However, it is a good thing because we are not hearing about fires like we had last year.

So, to that end, I decided to participate in Mark's Finest Papers Challenge called "Sketch With a Twist" or SWAT. (http://mfpspeedytv.ning.com/page/sketch-with-a-twist-challenge-110)

The beach is what I thought of today so I used a sand dollar from MFP and created the beach and other accompaniments. I'm thinking warm, sunny skies...not rainy and in the 50's for a real summer scene :)

Color challenge #33

I'm so happy to be volunteering while we stay at the beautiful Overlook cabins in Yellowstone for a second year! We are unpacked and I am able to start participating in challenges once again.

I will say that blue, lime green and red was a challenge for me. I even thought about skipping this week but, well, it is called a challenge, right? Once again, the cardstock is my own homemade paper and it is lime green but isn't showing up that well.This Challenge is sponsored by Mark's Finest Papers (http://mfpspeedytv.ning.com/page/color-challenge-33---7-31-14).

I have a new set of stamps called Fresh Fruit by Fiskars. Watermelon is a real treat for me so that is what I chose. I will send this card to the instructor of a course I was fortunate enough to take through Yellowstone Association, Inc.


Suzie Garner did a wonderful job teaching the experienced and inexperienced (that's me!) students many tricks and tips on pen and ink drawing and watercolor. Not in the classroom setting but outdoors on the trail. I am posting my card first and then have added a few pictures of us watching Suzie. For this card I created a plate for the watermelon to sit on and painted the border of the plate with watercolor. Too fun!

Thank you Prof. Suzie for all the lessons crammed into such a short time!

Here we are hiking 1/2 mile to Lost Lake close to Roosevelt junction. There were 15 total in the course.

We spread all over the area. Each person chose what caught their eye to attempt to recreate on paper.










Here is Prof. Suzie Garner's drawings of 2 sites in the area. Below is the area she was looking at for the bottom picture.










Hopefully, I will feel confident enough to include more drawings as I practice on my card fronts. Suzie gave me that inspiration and again to her I say Thank You!