Christmas Village - The Unveiling!

And here is the completed Village! From this side you can see the working train and the retired train sitting behind the depot.

If you click on the first picture after reading the dialog, you can see more detail in the larger pictures.







Guess I should take a shot at night with just the lights on too. This angle shows the server off to the back.












Here is the buffet. There's a lot of activity in this countryside neighborhood...a fox hunt, skating on a lake and critters peaking out from behind bushes and buildings. By the way, my fox outsmarts the hunters and dogs every time!








Here they are just starting off.















 Here is one-half of the large table. The tree is decorated and lite, Santa is riding on his sleigh high above the activity, people and buying, selling, enjoying the town.

 

 This shows Ebenezer Scooge's house and the graveyard to the side where the ghosts lead him around.










Here is the skating rink and people out and about.

This is the server with the theatre and church.













 And here is a shot with the lights on this evening. If I make the room totally dark all you see in the picture is little dots, ha!

After this I will start on cards again. But this is my other seasonal outlet for creativity.

Christmas Village - The Building

You think I'm kidding? The Building refers to the putting of the village together! I took a few shots of the process.


I started collecting Dept.56 Dickens Village Series buildings and accessories in 1991. Up until this house, I had plenty of room to put the village up every year. This house is smaller and is a challenge, however, if we sacrifice the entire dining room and eat meals on the lanai (pool porch) or on trays in the living room, there's plenty of space :)




I start with removing everything off of all the pieces of furniture I want to use. In this year's case it is the table, server and buffet. We stationed the table in the center but toward the window, I put on a lined, plastic tablecloth, large cardboard for protection, Christmas tablecloth and then we brought in the 4 x 8' sheet of plywood my husband built for me in the beginning.





Next comes the 1/2" piece of styrofoam, a correct-cut amount of batting (=snow) and I'm ready to build the train. The train is from the 1950/60's and still runs.

The holes you see in the stare to help run wires thru. Otherwise, they all have to make it to an edge, which is hard to do.










Then all the buildings are placed and wires run, connected and tested.







When it is all powered up the greenery and rest of the accessories are added. Here you can see the skating rink, town Christmas tree and street lights have been added.






Of course I forgot the batting this year until all the buildings were on and wired so husband Bob helped me correct the mistake!









Here you can see the buffet has activity on it.









This shows it before all the big greenery and trees were in. And the next blog will show the completed scenes with some close up.


Hope you had fun, I know its been a busy week for me!

Mono...2

So, as promised, here is my 2nd attempt. As I am trying to increase my Christmas card stock, this one is also a seasonal card.

This time I took a small stamp and stamped in light pink around the card. Then I used a darker-light pink and filled in the spaces. Finally, I picked it up and highlighted the stamp in red. I placed it all on my home made pink cardstock.

It really is a fun technique.

I'm going to join in on a challenge with this card. Craft Rocket Challenges has its home in the UK and is a new challenge site.
Click on the link below to visit them.

I will feature this on:
Mark's Finest Papers challenge #286; and
Word Art Wednesday challenge #208
Craft Rocket Challenges - November Challenge

Monochromatic Images

My dad retired after 40 years of working for the Eastman Kodak company, mainly in Atlanta, GA. That is where I grew up. Whenever I hear a word like monochromatic, I think of dad and all his years in the film industry.

So monochromatic (I just like saying that word, ha!) basically means layered hues [of color]. The challenge this week for Mark's Finest Papers is to layer colors on the background, starting with the lightest and progressing to darker.

On my first attempt I used a large stamp for the background and the sentiment was to draw the color out more. My little popped up tree shows off real well against the monotone color. I did a second card using another smaller stamp and will feature it on the next post.

This will be used for:

MFP Challenge #286
Word Art Wednesday
The Outlawz Challenges - Saturday's Paper a la Mode

Get Togethers

After almost a month of traveling, we are home in Florida, unpacked, and cleaning caught up so let the fun begin!

I thought I'd catch up by posting a few pictures of a card making get-together I had for the girls that work in the Yellowstone Association store. They all volunteer at different jobs but mostly field questions of visitors on where to go, what to see, how long will it take, etc....on an all day basis. They work 4 days on and then 3 days off. And, like us, they hike when not working.

 


 Sooo, I had a few "play dates" for them to use my supplies and make a card or two. This time I had Kathy, Nancy, Meredith and a new, younger girl my addled brain has conveniently forgotten the name of.







I chose a few card designs and provided 'stations' for them to choose from. The top picture is me explaining options of the design they chose. The picture above here shows the awesome background of mountains of inspiration for our hard work.



And to the side here is the amazing work space in the spare bedroom. I also had supplies on our bed, the entryway table and the sofa!











I always say I'm going to take a bunch of pictures and I get so caught up in what we're doing, I didn't take any. (Sigh!) In the reflection you can see Kathy, my picture savior :)

And here are two of the cards that were produced. Good job for beginners and we had so much fun!

ATC - Too or Two

Here is the other card I put together.

It's fun to make something a little smaller and although detailed, it comes together quicker than an actual card. Another fun item to work with on occasion.

This will be entered in

Outlawz Twisted Thursday Challenge

MFP's Blog Hop Tutorial

Word Art Wednesday

ATC - Artist Trading Cards

Mark's Finest Papers has a tutorial today how to create ATC's. I made 2 but will post them separately. The card is 2.5 x 3.5". It would be fun to see a swap happen using the cards. They have to be kept fairly simple so they can fit in a collector's card sleeve.

What fun...a new way to use stamps and creativity! I'm seeing more and more calls on Challenges for them so here is my  first attempt.

I will post this on MFP's Blog Hop for September.

Also on Outlawz Twisted Thursday Challenge

Word Art Wednesday Challenge

Burst Through Technique

Splitcoaststampers "Weekly Inkling" last week featured a tutorial for a burst through effect. I had so much fun making the Halloween card that I decided to try it for Christmas also.

This is the result. I love the way it turned out, even using the blue snowflake paper on my blue card stock. Here is the tutorial link if anyone is interested - Splitcoaststampers

I will enter this in :
Outlawz Monday Challenge - Christmas Cards
Word Art Wednesday
Get Creative Challenges

Dress It Up Again!

We have been hiking fools! 26+ miles in 8 days so very little energy or time for posting on either blog. Here is another Christmas card using a lot of layers, embossing and hand cutting to put together on my handmade paper.

This is for:

Outlawz Twisted Thursday Challenge -
                  Anything Goes (Dress It Up)
Word Art Wednesday - Anything Goes
MFPStampShop - Silver and Gold

Dress It Up

Another Yellowstone area...This is where we had lunch when hiking the Hoodoos. The Hoodoos are lava rock from centuries ago. If you get tired of looking at a certain type of landscape you only need to turn around or walk for 5 minutes to see something else, ha!

Now "on to business!" The Thursday- Twisted Challenge at Outlawz this week is Anything Goes with the twist of "dress it up!" I thought I'd try my hand at dressing up a Christmas card. Specifically, a snowflake. Each flake is different when it falls. God shows His handiwork in this unique way.

Since each person is unique also, does that make us all flakes too? Ahh, something to ponder. :)

Word Art Wednesday is celebrating their 200th Challenge this week! Very cool Ladies!



I will enter this in:
Outlawz - Thursday Challenge
Word Art Wednesday

Anything Goes Means Christmas!

Welcome from Yellowstone! You can't beat our view from the cabin we inhabit for 2 months each year. What could be more inspirational than this to make cards in?

This top view is what we see out our back windows. This is looking down into the north end of Yellowstone.




This view is stepping out the front door and looking slightly left.

What I need to happen is darkness takes over so I stop looking outside, that is, if we're not out hiking in the amazing park itself.







The Outlawz Monday Challenge is Anything Goes with a sentiment on the front. Easy enough and since I'm trying to fill a Christmas card order and be ahead for us, here is my entry for this.

I'll also enter this in Word Art Wednesday's weekly challenge.

We've done some new hikes this year (this is our 3rd yr out here to volunteer) so I think I'll post a few fabulous pictures here as I post cards. It's just tooooo pretty to not share!

BTW, I do have a travel blog with a lot of pictures on it of Yellowstone. If anyone is interested it is:
happytrailsx2.blogspot.com

 HO HO HO!

Birthday Fun

What a special day for an individual...having a birthday. Mine falls in December but I never feel slighted being so close to Christmas.

We have a granddaughter that falls on Dec. 14. Quite often she gets a celebration in the summer.

Which ever way one celebrates, the point is to make that someone feel special. Oh, and we shouldn't forget to make them feel loved the rest of the year too!

Here is a card with candles to help someone remember a special day.


I'll enter this at:
Mark's Finest Papers
Word Art Wednesday
Scrapbook.com

Flowers

I am stationary once more for about 6 weeks so can pull out my supplies and have some fun with cards.  

I packed up a folder full of old images and techniques to use to clear my craft supplies up. This image was created using a napkin and melting wax and positioning it on white cardstock. Then I stamped the sentiment on and I placed this on the home made blue cardstock. In person the image is much brighter.

I plan to enter this in the Outlawz Twisted Thursday Challenge and Word Art Wednesday's weekly Challenge.

What can you see at the beach?

A day at the beach makes me think of sunshine, sand, waves crashing on shore and things you can't see under those same waves :)

We are big fans of Jekyll Island GA and the beach there is all of the above but there are also turtles. They lay their eggs on the beach and at the right time the babies work very hard to scoot down to the water from the sandy nest.

This is what came to my mind when I saw the Mark's Finest Papers challenge #271 to make a beach scene.

I will enter this in

MFP #271
Word Art Wednesday

Spotlight Again

This technique is really fun to do. It draws your eye to the highlighted spot first and then allows you to expand to the entire stamped area. It's really a great way to showcase a stamp!

This card was done to comply with the Outlawz paper-ala-mode-spotlight technique. The cardstock is my handmade paper in medium pink.

I will enter this in:
Outlawz Saturday Challenge
Word Art Wednesday

Eat Cake!

July is a fun time of birthdays in our family. One grandson is turning 16 this month. I won't tell him but I remember this tiny baby sleeping away in a bassinet in my home office while mom was working. He's grown to be a super kid. Can't wait to see what God has in store for him.

It appears that July is also the month to celebrate chocolate. So Outlawz has a Challenge for Fridays that is all about hand coloring your image and this week the twist is something chocolate. I had guys in mind for this card. I colored 2 cakes and popped one on top of the other. The cardstock is my handmade brown. You can't see it with the multiple layers :)

I will enter it in
Outlawz Friday Coloring Challenge
Word Art Wednesday

Turtle Time

Every year I forget how much energy a 9 year old takes to keep entertained. We just delivered him back to his mom and dad after 10 days.

Outlawz has a Challenge calling for the use of die cuts. On our kayak trip down the Rainbow River, our grandson and I saw a group? (bevy, congregation...?) of turtles in one grassy area. There must have been 15 to 20 all sunning themselves. So, I decided to use my turtle die cuts for this challenge.

The background paper is more of the shaving cream technique with alcohol inks. And the cardstock is my pink homemade paper.


I'll enter this in:
Outlawz Twisted Thursday Challenge
Word Art Wednesday

Stripes

Ahhh, I have forgotten how much energy a 9 year old takes! We picked him up on Monday and have played at something non-stop! But, today we are taking turns and yesterday I worked it so we all took a nap...at the same time! Come on, I thought that was a real accomplishment :)

I just spotted the Challenge on Mark's Finest Papers and have just a few hours left to enter so I created this card for it. The call is to mark off stripes and use this as the background. The DT cards are very pretty.

This is for:
MFP weekly challenge
Word Art Wednesday

Watercolor - TY

I've had such fun creating my little watercolor scenes and have decided to start incorporating them into my cards. This is the reason I took my course last year. I love the subtle colors with the watercolors to use as a background.

Since there was some pretty purple in the water, I used my purple, hand-made paper for the card stock.


I discovered a new website by visiting Karen Letchworth's blog from Outlawz. It calls for a challenge that I'll enter this in. The challenge is to use watercolor!

V's Sweet Ideas Blog
and I'll also enter it in:
Word Art Wednesday

Traveling Time!

It's summertime and we have the travel bug but are staying close to home for now. Instead, I created a colorful RV card. If you look closely at the RV, you may see a peace sign in it. :)

I chose this paper just for that purpose. The base is home made brown card stock with a glitsy yellow layer to pop out the RV.

I will enter this in:

Outlawz Thursday Twisted Challenge; and
Word Art Wednesday

Tomorrow's Forecast

We have a friend that has undergone an incredible surgery to correct her spine from scoliosis. Her pain is intense but she is home and recuperating. Get well doesn't seem adequate to say so I'm hoping for a better 'Forecast' for her tomorrows!

This card used my yellow card stock, a piece of torn screen, and plenty of sparkle to bring out the butterfly.

I'll enter this in:

Outlawz' Thursday Twisted Challenge; and
Word Art Wednesday

Shaving Cream Technique

Oh, this is too much fun! Why leave all the good, play time to the kids? We adults must be able to garner some of the play and incorporate it into a hobby...well, this hobby for instance!

What do you get when you take a used aluminum roasting pan, fill it with shaving cream and drop alcohol inks into it? A background to die for! This background was made using Tim Holtz Alcohol Inks and dragging the paper straight through, then scraping off the excess.

Stunning and fun, oh yeah, I'll be doing this on a regular basis. Especially when you can get shaving cream from the Dollar Tree Store for ...Wait for it...$1!

I will enter this card in the Outlawz Tuesday Color Challenge this week; and
Word Art Wednesday.

White Embossing Again!

I noticed that all the DT cards are on brown paper, different shades, but basically brown. I know that this is the ultimate "craft" paper.But, since my color paper packs also say "craft paper" on them, then I'm pushing the lines here I guess. I did look for some guidelines on the website for a definition and even for a tutorial that might give me a hint.

At any rate, here is my next card for the MFP White Embossing on Craft Paper Challenge. I need about 200 Christmas cards for this year so am making them with every inspiration I can come across.

I used the Christmas Selections 2012 and Snowflakes 2014 from the MFP stamp set collections. And to my amazement, this embossing does look white. I'm so happy the way they turned out!

White Embossing on Craft Paper

So here is card number 2. This was fun to bring together. The background is a new die cut I recently purchased. I love how it turned out!

I was hoping that the darker background would provide enough relief to see the embossing as white, but alas, it still looks silvery to me. I believe I need to go with the red-red craft paper for another try.

This is for mfp Challenge #267. I am a huge fan of these mini nutcracker stamps! Be sure to visit their shop for all the large and small Christmas stamps they have. Really cool stuff!

White Embossing

I'm not sure this will ever be my favorite way to emboss. :)

Mark's Finest Papers has a nice Challenge which asks for white embossing on craft paper. Simple enough, unless you don't have white embossing powder and when you go out and get the powder, it turns more silver than white. (It's name is snow, hmmm).

But the effects are fun and pretty so here is one card for the challenge. It only took 2 devices and about 10 pictures to find one that allows you to see the embossing. I tried a little tweaking with the 'Yummm' stamp in bending it below the cup. I think it turned out cute.

I'm going to make a few more on different colored craft paper to see if I can indeed get the white snow look.

Scraps

I am on a mission to clean up, throw away, organize my card supplies. My Challenge to myself is to keep a pile of scraps in front of me and to continue drawing from it to create or adorn cards and to replenish this pile until it no longer exists!

So, when I saw the Challenge from Outlawz for Clean and Simple using Scraps, I had to enter!

My Stamping In Florida card group taught us the Lattice Border Technique this month and I made several with my homemade card stock just to get some good practice with it. The border along with this lovely flourish and sentiment is all this card needs to stand out. And I used 2 more scraps to create it. Yea!

Corners Only

I'm ready for 'boring' again. No, not with the cards, but with life! Husbands and kidney stones are no fun...for him or me!

In between his agony, I've managed to produce another card. Come on, I have to stay busy in between all the caring right?

MFP has another challenge this week using corners only. It took me a while and leaving this card many times and coming back to it to feel satisfied with the results. The base paper is homemade brown (from shredded, unusable pattern paper), and three layers of card stock. The little thanks and flower is a stamp on material and back-stitching with colors. Something I do in the car when traveling.

Sorry the picture isn't clearer. The bottom corner says "A friend like you is a real gift!'

I will enter this in
 Mark's Finest Paper's challenge and
Word Art Wednesday

Father's Day

We have a super son and son-in-law that we are so proud of. They are both fantastic husbands and fathers. I made this card for both of them.

I will enter it at:
Get Creative and
Word Art Wednesday