Card Making Sunday

 

       Whenever we go back to Dayton I always stop at Marco's, my favorite paper store.  Even though they're on the web, it's always more fun to walk around and see what's new. Feel the paper, smell the ink.

      On the last trip I found a Wild West Card Kit by TJ Designs (Tweety Jill).  On a previous trip I had bought the Rodeo Sweethearts stamp collection so I knew I would like the designs.  The card making kit comes with everything you need, but I had to modify it to make it my "own".  I swapped out the plain beige card that is provided for one I made from Wausau Royal Fiber Cover paper in "Sunfower".  It gives it a better feel, and the color blends perfectly with the photos supplied in the kit.        

     The paper, photo, and burlap are all provided in the kit, which makes it easy to put together.   I tore one edge of the top paper and distressed it with Ranger's Walnut Stain.    Pictures are provided, too, for inspiration.  For this card I chose one of the cowboys because it is going to our friend Lou for his birthday. 

      The gold star was also included, and I attached it with some wire I had handy.  I added a black line of Sticky Stitches where the two papers met.  I also added a backing to the photo to make it "pop", but the photo and photo corners came with the kit. 

 

      The inside of the card shows the "sunflower" color better.   I used Marvy Matchable Dye Ink in Dark Brown to stamp the words.  "Howdy partner" is from Stamp a Mania.   It is one of the new stamps I bought at Guadalupe's Fun Rubber Stamps in Santa Fe.   "Happy Birthday" is from Azadi Earles, and I have enjoyed this stamp for years.  Azadi stamps can be bought at many places on the web, but I don't remember where I found this one.   I added the barbs to the letters with a Marvy La Plume pen so it would match the barbed wire look of the "Howdy partner" stamp.     

 

     I used one of the cowgirl images for this card and left the inside blank for now.   I swapped out the kit card for one from the same cover stock mentioned above.  You can't see the sunflower color in this picture.

      On this card I glued the burlap down first and added the paper, raffia and photo on top.   All of the materials came from the kit except for the copper brads.   The kit includes four brass brads, but I wanted ones that would look more like the ones found on jeans.

      Hope you liked my latest cards.  I had fun making them.   



Beautiful Ohio

We went back to Ohio recently to visit family, and that includes visiting my grandpuppy Kenu. He´s a beautiful Alaskan Malamute-- 130 pounds of puppy love.

Of course he has beautiful parents, my son and daughter-in-law.

We had a great time at their Memorial Day picnic. In fact, I was enjoying visiting with friends and relatives so much that I failed to take photos.

It was perfect picnic weather--sunny and hot. Later a brief Ohio shower cooled things down but didn´t keep us from going back outside as soon as it passed. We don´t have those here in Arizona this time of the year. We also enjoyed seeing the bright green foilage everywhere. They have had a lot of rain this year, and everything was lush and blooming.

While we were there, we celebrated my mother´s 95th birthday. WoW! Way to go, Mother! This isn´t a milestone that many of us will reach. She had to go to the doctor on her birthday, which was a bummer, but she was a good sport about it. Later we had a small celebration with family, pizza, and chocolate cake. Mother´s memory isn´t good these days, but she enjoyed the moment. Which, when you think about it, is what we all should try to do.

One of my favorite things to do when we go back to Ohio is visit Marco´s Paper. This is the greatest paper (and more) store in the world. If you like any kind of papercrafts, you need to stop in and see them. They are on the web, but I love the store best. There is nothing quite so much fun as looking at all the neat paper, stamps, pens, charms, inks, etc, and dreaming of all the great things that could be made....if only there were more hours in the day. The bane of crafters and writers everywhere is the lack of time. And when the crafter/writer has to be a working stiff too, it is terrible!

So while I was at Marco´s I bought some cover stock to back the rest of my Yellowstone photos, and some album paper that was on sale. Pinecones, ivy and some coordinating colors. The pinecones will be used soon to finish off the Yellowstone album, but the others may go into the paper stash. (You can never have enough paper.) Also found some great cowgirl rubber stamps that were new, must-have items. Then I found some had-to-have ink and a couple of more sale items.... Everytime I go to the store I suggest that they open a store in Arizona. But considering my inability to pass up their bargains, perhaps I couldn´t afford for them to be here!!

We also stopped at the Cox Arboretum for a quick visit one afternoon. This is the Monet Pond, a lovely tranquil spot. There were a couple of weddings that day, too. The turtles were sunning themselves, and birds were singing. Beautiful Ohio.