Happy Easter

Hello Friends! First I'd like to wish you a blessed and Happy Easter and for those celebrating Passover, Chag Sameach. I hope that you are enjoying a beautiful, peaceful day no matter where you are or what you're doing.

I'm changing things up just a bit in that I don't have a card to share today but instead am sharing a couple of old watercolors I did. As some of you who caught an earlier post with other paintings may recall I've been working on cleaning my computer which at 7+ years old is starting to show just a bit of age and a 'too full' hard drive isn't helping. In the midst of the cleaning I can across a collection of archived images of paintings I did many years ago. I'd painted watercolors pretty seriously for 5-6 years and ultimately sold off almost all of my work but kept a record in photos/scans.

I love flowers in general but nothing quite says Easter and spring to me as much as Tulips. so I thought these would make a good choice for a post today. Though I typically worked in smaller sizes these pieces were both on the larger side at 12x18.

It was a nice surprise to come across the folder of images and having a look back. There are quite a few so I'll share some more in posts to come as time goes by.

Happy Crafting!

Good Intentions and Time Flies

Hello Friends!  I know I'm not alone but no matter how hard I try there just never seems to be enough time to do all those thing you have to do plus the things you want to do. Lately I can sum up my life in the two sayings... "The Road to Hell is Paved with Good Intentions" and "Time Flies Whether You're Having Fun or Not".  :)

I've neglected to blog consistently but I have by some minor miracle managed to keep up with making and sending cards to the members of my FB card maker group. This card was created specifically for Misty (who loves Hummingbirds).

I had a few hummingbird images in my graphics library (one of the side benefits of being a graphic designer is having a lot of graphic resources) but chose this one as opposed to a photo. I'm not a fan of using photos in my card making and could easily envision making this into a card.

I sized the graphic accordingly printed it on a beige cardstock, fussy cut it and mounted it on a contrasting burgundy card stock. I took advantage of the detail in the bottom of the image to add some extra dimension by slipping the ribbon below it.

My apologizes for a less than perfect photo. I need to spend some time really learning my camera... add one more thing to the 'to do' list! :)

Happy Crafting!

Bluebird of Spring

Hello Friends! I think it's safe to say that winter is finally behind us in the Northeast and I for one am very grateful. Spring is always a time of great renewal and I'm hopeful that I'll be able to start finding some more time to create (and post) regularly instead of in the fits-and-spurts that have so far been the case this year.

My card share today is a card I made for my stash which I've begun to accumulate so that I'll be able to send cards to my fellow Seognsook's Card Makers. This one was sent to Pam T. for her birthday.

This is a digi I have had in my collection for a long time and I'm not certain where it came from but I always manage to make a few cards with it every Spring. I love that it's so versatile — I'm not a birder (forgive me for any of you who are) so in my estimation I think you can make this bird just about any color combo and the flowers can be matched to any accent color you want too. 

The sentiment is an older one from StampinUp and the die set is one that comes with the Lifestyle Crafts Genius Magnetic Platform made by WeR, which I got for Christmas this year. I haven't been crafting enough to say for sure if this is a 'must have' but so far I like it. It always takes some getting used to, when you have done something one way for a long time, to get the hang of something new but I have a lot of dies and tend to use them a lot so I thought this might be easier. Do you own it and do you love it? I'll keep you posted as I use it more.

Until next time... Happy Crafting!

Unity Stamp Company & OWH Blog Hop

Hello and welcome! I'm excited to be participating in the Unity Stamp Co. Blog Hop today (which officially begins at 12:00 noon Central time) with so many truly talented and gifted crafters. If you scroll down to the end of this post you'll find a list of the stops or you can head on over to OWH Stars & Stamps blog or the Unity Stamps blog to find your way too.

These new stamps are fabulous! I'm lucky enough to have quite a few Unity Stamps in my collection and they are among my favorite, go-to sets. I decided  I'd take the opportunity to focus on the fun, artsy feel of this set in my card.

I used a 140# cold-pressed Fabriano Artistico watercolor paper for my base and finally broke into a set of Faber-Castell Gelatos that I've had for awhile but until now had gone untouched. I started by creating the background, randomly stamping the text stamp in this set and then added the flag right on top. 

The handmade in USA sentiment is heat embossed in white and those are just basic staples holding it to the layer below it. I should also note that the whole thing is then attached to a card base so there is no chance of catching anyone's fingers on those staples.

I had lots of fun playing with this set, and as you can see there are 2 stamps I didn't use... that heart would make a great CAS card all on it's own wouldn't it? Although the sentiment could make this card good for almost any message I think I'll be using it as an Any Hero card for OWH.

Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the hop! Head on over to Rachel next (#13) and see what she has in-store for you...

Occupation Themed Birthday Cards

Hello Friends! They're calling for more snow where I am today on the Connecticut/New York border. I'm hoping they're wrong... but it doesn't look like it but at least, thankfully, it doesn't seem like it will be too bad, maybe 3-6 inches.

I have been holding on to a few photos of cards I've made to send to members of my card maker group figuring it would be best to post them after sending them, just in case the recipient happened to read the post. Most of the cards I've been sending have been general birthday themes. Since I don't know most of the group well enough to make a card that has any specific connection to what they do or what they like. This one was an exception. I know Nancy is a nurse and thought this fun Dr. Needle digi from Hambo Stamps would make a fun choice for her card. He's easy and fun to color. 

I wish that all the snow we've had this winter would have translated into more crafting time for me but it hasn't worked out that way so I'm looking forward to the renewal and fresh start that Spring always seems to bring. What about you...Are you more productive at certain times of the year than others?

Happy Crafting!