Better with a Dog......Wha-aat??? FWF 9-16

Occasionally, I get asked by my readers if we have a dog, along with all of our cats.  The answer is yes.  This is Growler.  She is one of the homeliest mixed breed (Germ. shorthair, Austr shep, and lab) dogs ever, but she adores us.  She knows her rank in life.  Humans are top.  Next come the cats.  Next come the chickens.  Then comes Growl-Girl.  ("Oh, boy!!!  You guys are the humans; I'm just the dog!!!  I like knowing my place!!!")

Growler looking guilty about something....could be any number of things!

She is probably the most under-loved of all of our pets, since we are all such cat people, but she is a good farm dog.  She barks the deer away (mostly) and announces the arrival of (some) visitors with a bark.  She is gentle with all the other pets and with children.  She is death on raccoons, even at her advanced age (around 12, I think). And.... she never poops in the yard!  LOL... Hey, that's a big thing!!!

We never have been able reliably to keep her at home because her head is smaller than her neck and she can slip out of any collar....Houdini out of any harness......dig out of any pen (or get completely scraped up trying).....and jump or climb over any fence.  Now that she is old and arthritic, she stays home a little bit better....keyword: "little"...but I still see her out in the neighboring pastures quite frequently.  With her large chest cavity, she has immense lung power for her size and used to run and run and run following us in the car for nearly a mile when we went to town.  Now she realizes that she has to walk all that way back, so she doesn't do that as much....just follows us to church sometimes and sits in the back of the truck waiting for a ride home.  Awwww.....

So why all the space dedicated to a dog?  Well, I guess I am feeling a little bit sentimental about pets that I take for granted.  My hubby just had to put down one of our older kitties who was riddled with cancer.  Scooter was one of our favorite kitties.  She always had a cheery greeting for us in her funny, scratchy voice.  She didn't appreciate the other kitties too much and spent most of the last 4 years at our next-door neighbor's house.  He really liked her......even though she was responsible for him slipping on the ice a couple winters ago and breaking his leg in two places near his ankle!!!  Ouch!  

So here's to pets that are under-appreciated.....and to ones that we miss.  Love and miss you, Scoot-Baby.  Love you, also, Growl-Dog.  Thank you for being our friends.

 
Hi, Friends....

I am here with my Unity - Friends with Flair project for the week.  Are you like I am with lots of wonderful Unity stamps that sit under-loved and under- or un-used in your stash????  I noticed that I tend to use the same ones over and over and don't make the effort to figure out a way to use some of the others.  So for my FWF projects for the rest of the year, I am going to try to use ones that haven't seen ink yet.  Anyone else want to challenge themselves to that with me?  

I keep my Unitys in a binder in clear pocket pages and on the first page was the "Life is Better with a Dog".  Ha.  Well, I am not totally convinced this sentiment is true (being a cat person and all....) but true to my resolve, I pulled it out to use.  I paired it up with a Unity pawprint stamp for this project.  Not sure if I have used the paw print before or not, but I know I haven't used the sentiment.  lol...  So, I am also linking this card up to Darnell's NBUS #5 Challenge.  

Are you sensing a theme here????  Under-appreciated pets and under-appreciated stamps?  Okay, good.  I had an idea you might need a little help tracking with my weird thought processes.  (I use the term "thought processes" loosely!  Ha.) 

Okay, here is my dog card dedicated to our sweet Growl-Baby.  Thank you for being our friend, dear old dog.

I did something I am not sure I have ever done before.  It's crazy, but I used only brand new sheets of coordinating papers from one collection (the dog sheets in the DCWV Pets Stack), in addition to the kraft.....NO SCRAPS!!!   (Well, okay, the kraft sentiment panel was a scrap...but none of the patterned papers were!)  It was so fun to mix these around to make my design, following the Viva la Verve Week One sketch.  

I stamped the paw prints in Tea Dye Distress Ink and curved the sentiment a bit and stamped it over the still moist (...or muddy!) paw prints with Versafine Ink in Onyx Black.  Then I heat embossed all the stamping with clear powder.  The adhesive ribbons all came from a clearance set that somehow coordinates perfectly with the DCWV papers.  (How did that even happen???  Who knows....but I love it when it does!)  Later on, I added a tiny turquoise rhinestone to the poodle's hairdo, but I didn't take another shot of it....so you'll have to use your imagination!  Ha. 

Thank you for laboring through this long post.  I appreciate your comments and encouraging words.  Be sure to tell me if you want to join me in trying to use the underloved Unity in our stashes for the rest of the FWFs this year!!!

<3
Janis

Thank you for the honor of entering this card in the following challenges:
1.  Unity - Friends with Flair
2.  NBUS Challenge #5 - Use some Never Before Used Schtuff (the Unity sentiment stamp)
3.  Vive la Verve September Week 1 Sketch Challenge

4.  Cards in Envy - Inspired by a Song  "Thank You for Being a Friend"
5.  The Kraft Journal Challenge #241 - Take Your Pick (I used Patterned Paper, Embossing, and Ribbon)

Apples

Hi, Friends.....

What to do......what to do.  I had three challenges I wanted to combine:

• The sketch from Atlantic Hearts Challenge.

• The Male Room challenge of a masculine card with a fruit theme.
• The Unstampabelles challenge of a masculine card.  

Then I hit on an idea.....  

Each year a local farm family, who are also honey producers, host an apple cider pressing party for the community in their honey house.  Everyone brings plastic jugs and whatever apples they have from their own trees or from the "wild" ones that grow around here.  We, ladies, primarily wash and trim and the guys mostly man the cider press. By the end of the day, each family has a few gallons of fresh-pressed cider to take home.  Oh, YUM!!!  

Hey, I could make a masculine apple-themed card to thank this family after the party in October!  [Please don't tell your folks, Christy!  :)]

For masculine cards, I like to use lots of texture.  Burlap and dry embossing are good ways to add some yumminess without a lot of frou frou.  One of my favorite things to do with dry embossing is to wipe an inked dauber over the raised portions to give them more definition.  For this card, I dry embossed some DCWV scraps with the Checkered and the Interlock Circles Folders from Darice.  Then I inked over them with Distress Ink in Rusty Hinge and Walnut Stain.  The burlap is a scrap from my DCWV Burlap Paper Stack.

Do you like my apple????  It started as a very large punched circle of this scrap of DCWV apple paper for the sketch.  Then I got the bright idea.....could I (who is utterly challenged at doing anything free-hand!) cut this circle into a shape that would be recognizable by anyone as an apple????  I gave it my best shot....and am quite pleased (even amazed!) with the result. (The stem and leaf help....)   I think myself extremely clever using an apple for the circle in the sketch!!!  Ha.  

I wanted to make my apple stand out without too much fanciness, so I applied some Glossy Accents to a few of the little apples in the patterned paper.  The leaf is from K&Co. scraps cut with my
Sizzix Originals - Build a Lilac Die set.  The stem is some twine that I dyed with Distress Ink in Crushed Olive and Walnut Stain.

I contoured the apple with dimensional foam squares (two on top of each other for double the height) down the center of the apple and then glued down the outer edges.  You might be able to see a bit of the "puffiness" in the photo above.

I used some Colorbok Alpha Letters to spell out APPLES.  The green color of the letters and leaf did not match the apples in the patterned paper too well, so I sponged Crushed Olive DI over the die cuts.  I like this much better.  Ink covers a multitude of shade differences!!  :)

I mounted it all on a kraft card base.  Kraft is also a great thing to use for masculine cards, as are any of the earthy tones.

That's all for tonight.  Thank you for your continued thoughts and prayers.  Also, thank you for all your wonderful comments.

<3
Janis 

Thank you for the honor of entering this card in the following challenges:
1.  Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge #125 

2.  The Male Room Challenge #18 - Fruit
3.  Unstampabelles Challenge #50 - Boyz Will Be Boyz
4.  HIMCR #216 Super Scraps Saturday
5.  Pixie's Snippets Playground Week #194 - Use Snippets
6.  Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge - Love this Technique (Inking over dry embossing.)
7.  The Kraft Journal Challenge #241 - Take Your Pick (I chose patterned paper, embossing, and die cut.)

Friendship is....A Million Little Things

Brian and Othello

Here's a sweet shot of Friend Kitties taking a nap together:   our big, black Othello and sweet, striped Brian.  My angle is obviously not great on this shot because Brian's nose and ears are actually nearly as long as his tail!  Ha.....well, not quite!  Sometime, I will post a better picture showing his "alien" features.  :)  In this picture his nose looks more like his dainty little sister's.

Brian was missing for 4 or 5 days after we returned from being evacuated for a week during all the fires.  I was just heartsick.  He showed up, though, in fine shape...though his coat was full of pitch and debris.  We were so relieved and happy.

 Hi, Friends.....

Super short post today because I am having a few health problems that we're trying to get regulated.  I really wanted to get another card made for Mojo Monday prize week, so I will get this in under the wire.  :)  The pretty blue scraps with an autumn feel were calling to me. [I absolutely LOVE a bright, deep blue with autumn colors!!  That combo makes me get giddy inside.  Hey, maybe that's what is causing the problem with my heart!!!  Ha. ]  One of these pieces had a torn edge which I fell in love with.  It inspired me to go shabby with this card.  :)

This wonderful sentiment from the Inky Antics - Script Sentiments #1 stamp set is stamped with Versafine Ink in Vintage Sepia.     
 

Other supplies used include:

K&Co. Scraps
Prima - Wildflower Mix
Want 2 Scrap - Adhesive Pearl
Distress Ink - Rusty Hinge, Crushed olive
Burlap ribbon from my stash

Thank you so much for visiting my blog.  I appreciate each of your wonderful comments!!!  Thank you all for being my super-talented crafty friends!!  I am so grateful for all the millions of little things you say that encourage and support me in my crafting endeavors.

<3
Janis 


Thank you for the honor of entering this card in the following challenges:
1.  Mojo Monday #414 - Sketch

2.  Pixie's Snippets Playground Week #194 - Use Snippets
3.  Little Scrap Pieces - Show-it-Off Saturday Linky Party
4.  Simon Says Stamp Work-It Wednesday August 2015 - Autumn Theme
5.  HIMCR #216 Super Scraps Saturday
6.  Word Art Wednesday Challenge #200 - Anything Goes Family Friendly
7.  The Paper Girls Challenge - Grateful/Thankful So grateful for my crafty friends......like you! 
8.  Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Stamp-It and Blog Hop

Stenciled and Stamped Thank You

Not a kitty pic, but isn't this bed set gorgeous????

Hi, Friends....

I am here with a card for this week's MFP Speedy Fox & Friends Challenge which asks us to stamp over a stencil.  This fabulous tutorial by Pat Garvin shows how!  

I also had just been looking at the Make ART Challenge Blog which features Wendy Vecchi's art.  I saw that their current challenge is to create something, using her line of products, inspired by some of the new releases on her blog.  That sounded like fun!  I looked on her blog and was super-inspired by the blues and purples in her samples using the new Stamp It Stencil It sets (Floral Collage and Water Lily).  I grabbed my Stamper's Anonymous - Wendy Vecchi - Build a Bloom - Stamp It Stencil It set and went to work combining these two challenges.  :)

I stenciled over a scrap piece of DCWV patterned paper with the flower and the foliage stencils, using Distress Ink in Broken China and Shaded Lilac.  Then I stamped over the flowers with the cracked background from my Mark's Finest Papers - Background Fun stamp set using Distress Ink in Dusty Concord.  (Do you like the cracked effect?  I wasn't sure at first, but it has grown on me and now I really do!)

As is my usual style, I made a very simple sentiment panel from a scrap of white cardstock to accompany this pretty background.  I stamped my Quietfire Designs - Rough-Hewn Thank You (Mini) with the same Dusty Concord DI and heat embossed it with clear powder.  Everything was matted with and mounted on purple cardstock.  Some synthetic shimmery raffia from my stash finished it all up.  I totally LOVE how this card turned out.  I adore the soft look of the stenciling over the patterned paper.  Hope you like it, too!!!

I did some other stamping over stenciling, too.  Some turned out pretty good and some not-so-great.  Ha!  (Back to the scrap heap with them to be remade into something else at a later date!! lol...)  I want to thank Pat for the wonderful challenge theme.  This awesome technique is one that I will want to play with again!!! 

Hope you are all having a great week and getting ready for a lovely weekend!!

<3
Janis

Thank you for the honor of entering this card in the following challenges:
1.  MFP Speedy Fox and Friends Challenge #278 - Stamp over Stencil
2.  Make ART September Challenge - New Product Inspiration  
3.  Word Art Wednesday Challenge #200 - Anything Goes Family Friendly
4.  Pixie's Snippets Playground Week #193 - Use Snippets
5.  DL.ART September Challenge Linky - Anything Goes
6.  Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Use a Stamp and Blog Hop

ETA because I wanted to give this card to the recipient first....and I know she visits my blog sometimes!!  A sweet friend helped us out in the Rabies Vaccine Clinic we held in our community recently.  She likes purple, so I had made this for her.  Thanks, Christy!
7.  The Paper Girls Challenge - Grateful/Thankful 

Thinking of You - FWF 9-8

Hi, Friends.....

I am here with my Unity - Friends with Flair project for the week.  I am still trying to get used to it being on Tues/Wed instead of on Fridays!  

Today I used a Unity grab bag "Thinking of You" stamp that I discovered belongs to their June 2014 Sentiment Kit.  I love this gorgeous font!!  I stamped it with Onyx Black Versafine Ink onto a dreamy watercolor background I made from another of....... yes, you guessed it.... my ****marker refilling experiment sheets****!  Yay!  :) 

In my stash, I found a background I had made last year.  It was yellow paper dry embossed with my Darice - Henna folder that I had inked with Distress Ink in Fired Brick, Walnut Stain, and Spiced Marmalade.   
[I think I must have inked the wrong side of the folder when I was first learning, because it is on the debossed side, not the embossed side!!  LOL!!  Turns out that I like this folder debossed a lot better than embossed, so who knows....maybe I DID do it that way on purpose!!!  Ha.] 
This piece didn't have a lot of color (yet), but it had potential.  So....I fussy cut around the swirly flowers and leaves and sponged with more distress inks for deeper, richer colors.  Then I inked it gently with a Versamark pad and heat embossed it with Stampendous - Stamp and Bond Embossing Powder.  Next I pressed a piece of partially-used gold Clearsnap - Designer Foil over the sticky design.  I only wanted small bits of foil accents and this technique gave me exactly what I was desiring.

If you look closely, you can see bits of foil accents on the floral design.

To continue with the gold theme, I also did some gilding on the edge of my banner piece (which was made from a DCWV scrap).  I dragged the edges over my Versamark pad and then heat embossed with WOW! Embossing Powder - Metallic Gold Rich Ultra High.  I bought a BIG jar of this some time back, but hadn't opened it yet.  Oh, my.....this is *just* the thing to give a delicious, heavy coat of gleaming gold!!!!  LOVE LOVE LOVE!!!  [Can't wait to start using this on my double embossed backgrounds!!! :) ]

I inked some burlap from my DCWV Burlap Paper Stack with Distress Ink in Tea Dye to warm up the color a little bit and used my WRMK Crop-a-Dile Corner Chomper to round the corners.  [I won this tool from Taunya Butler (THANKS, Taunya!!  I love it so much!)  It bites into all sorts of materials effortlessly and rounds off the corners beautifully.]  I love the texture the burlap brings!!  I also added some gold punchinella behind the panels for more gleam and more texture.  A few sequins in the corner and I was done.

Hope you have enjoyed this tour through my card today.  Thank you for your lovely comments!!!

<3
Janis

Thank you for the honor of entering this card in the following challenges:
1.  Unity - Friends with Flair Link-Up
2.  Wow! Embossing Powder September Challenge - Use foils
3.  Connie Can Crop Monthly Color Challenge #38
4.  Word Art Wednesday Challenge #199 - Anything Goes Family Friendly
5.  Little Scrap Pieces - Show-it-Off Saturday Linky Party
6.  Simon Says Stamp Work-It Wednesday August 2015 - Autumn Theme
7.  Mojo Monday - #414
 
8.  Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Make it Colorful
9.  Quick Quotes Friday Challenge #55 - Anything Goes

Group Effort Thank Yous

Hi, Friends.....

I am here today to share with you a big batch of thank you cards I made this week.  As many of you know, our community was hit very hard with the wildfires that have ravaged many places in the West this summer.  Our courageous firefighters worked hard to battle the blazes and were successful in saving many, many homes that would have been destroyed.  During this ordeal and in the aftermath, we had a tremendous outpouring of donations by individuals and groups in our area.  

Tuesday of this week our church had a thank you note writing "party" to express our appreciation to each of these who helped so much......some with their time and labor, some with money, some with equipment, some with food, etc.  Around 10 ladies gathered for a couple of hours and wrote thank yous non-stop.  I and others brought thank you note cards with us for everyone to use, some were handmade and some were commercially made. We had quite a stack of them to mail out when we were done!!!  

As I was considering what design to use for these thank yous, I found an email blog update in my inbox from Melissa of A Creative Journey with Melissa.  The title of her blog post said something about making 5 cards in 15 minutes.  That immediately caught my eye!!!  :)  I loved her simple, but attractive design:

Melissa's samples using her wonderful sign language stamps!!!

 I pulled out a bunch of DCWV autumn-looking prints from my scrap bags and went to work following her fabulous tutorial....and doing a few tweaks of my own.  :)  I also used my A Creative Journey with Melissa - Fall and Winter Holiday Sentiments stamp set which Melissa designed.  I LOVE this set full of gracious and useful sentiments.  The "So Grateful" one I stamped with Versafine Ink in Vintage Sepia isn't limited only to Thanksgiving cards! 

I mounted each of them on premade kraft or white card bases.  Here is a shot of the whole group of 30 cards that I took to the party.

I can't say that I made mine as fast as Melissa was able to make hers, but I absolutely LOVE how they turned out.  Hope this has inspired you if you need to make multiple cards.  Be sure to visit Melissa's blog and see the other wonderful ideas and products she offers!!  

Thanks for coming to visit!!!  Have a lovely remaining part of the week.

<3
Janis

Thank you for the honor of entering this set of cards in the following challenges:
1. DL.Art Thankful Thursday Challenge #163 - Thank You
2. Simon Says Stamp Work-It Wednesday August 2015 - Autumn Theme
3. Word Art Wednesday Challenge #199 - Anything Goes Family Friendly
4. Pixie's Snippets Playground Week #192 - Use Snippets
5. Crafty Hazelnut's Patterned Paper September 2014 Challenge
6. DL.Art September Challenge Linky Party  
7. Connie Can Crop Monthly Color Challenge #38

 
ETA:  
8. The Paper Girls Challenge - Grateful/Thankful (This challenge allows projects that are slightly older than their blog post.  Their "Grateful" challenge was so perfect for my cards that I hope they will accept it.)

Holiday Joy - FWF 9-2

Hi, Friends......

I am here with a Christmas card for my Unity Friends with Flair project.  You might recall that Unity is changing things up a bit and now combines their Friends with Flair feature with their weekly designer hop.  The hop used to be on Thursdays, but is now on Tuesday evenings.  We have 24 hrs to link up our Friends with Flair project on the same linky as the hop.

 For this card, I used the Unity - Holiday Joy and Clearsnap - Designer Foil.  I haven't played with the foil much, so I am still getting the hang of it.  I stamped with Versamark and heat embossed the image with Stampendous - Stamp and Bond Embossing Powder and then pressed the foil sheet over the sticky image.  It didn't turn out perfect, but I am not dissatisfied with it.  I will keep practicing.  I love the gold on the black!!

This background, which I dry embossed with my Darice - Snowflakes and Flourishes folder, is one that I've had in my stash since last winter.  (Yes, I usually make extras while I have my Big Shot out!)  I matted it in black to coordinate with my focal panel and mounted it on a glittery gold pre-made card base.  A yummy gold mesh ribbon finished the card.   

Does this get you in the mood for making Christmas cards??  :)

Thank you so much for stopping by.  I appreciate each one of your comments so much!!!  Have a lovely rest of the week!

<3
Janis 

Thank you for the honor of entering this card in the following challenges:
1.  Unity - Friends with Flair
2.  Wow! Embossing Powder September Challenge - Use foils
3.  Word Art Wednesday Challenge #199 - Anything Goes Family Friendly
4.  Little Scrap Pieces - Show it Off Saturday
5.  DL.Art September Challenge Linky Party