Sneak Peek

Just poppin a quick peek at something else I've been creating until I can get back to post it properly.

 

Dinners cookin and about to burn so gotta go!!!

 

Hugs

 

Suezie

Mixing it All Up

I pretty much buy only 3 brands of clear stamps - Verve, Papertrey Ink (PTI) and Waltzing Mouse (WMS) and it's been that way for several years now although WMS has overtaken my collection by a mile.  I love when I can mix up stamp sets and just play without worry about which one goes with which.  Since coming back from our trip with new craft goodies to play with I finally got a chance to create and here's what I came up with.

 

I have had the PTI Honey Bees set for longer than I care to admit when I tell you that I've never even used it!  With that in mind and on a hunt for craft dies which was turning out to be really disappointing I resorted to purchasing online.  Staying with family means that we can order and get goods delivered to where we're staying.  I was seriously 'gob-smacked' to find that craft stores just weren't stocking many dies in-store now.

 

I chose to pick up the PTI Honey Bee dies, partly because I figured I needed to use this set or toss it out but mostly because just before going back home I had ordered the latest Verve Plain Jane scripture stamp from Proverbs 16:24 so I knew it was waiting for me to collect when we arrived.

 

'Gracious words are like a honeycomb; sweetness to the soul and health to the body' Proverbs 16:24

 

I knew as soon as I saw it that it would be perfect married up with the Honey Bee set so I was grateful I still had it and only too happy to have a reason to finally use it.

 

 

I don't mind tellin ya that this delivery saved my vacation as far as shopping for craft dies was concerned.  Without this I would've come home empty handed and pretty well disappointed.  It's not that I needed new craft dies you understand, just that to go so far and not be able to find any when you had a few pennies burning a hole in your pocket would've been a real downer.

 

 

Anyhow the first shot of this card shows it open with the little honeycomb die cut out of the upper left and lower right hand corners.  This shot shown flat shows where I inked through the die-cut to the card beneath.  I plan to simplify this card to reproduce it several times for my charity card making and I'd probably use patterned paper cut outs with this die instead.

 

 

And in this close-up shot you can just see some leaves poking out from underneath the verse panel.  These were some WMS stamps I had on hand.  I love leaves so I use them whenever I can.

 

 

And of course the text is the scripture stamp from Verve.  Behind that is a library card stamp from PTI which I also bought to make up the minimum $70 free stateside postage deal.  I figured it would make a nice journal block on scrapbook pages but I like it as a background for sentiments too.  It was only $5 so I'm supre chuffed with it cos it's way bigger than I thought it would be - well worth the money.

 

 

Once opened the card has been stamped up even more.  I almost NEVER give a card without a liner but I chose to omit the liner for the following reason:

 

 

Can you see that wee honey bee swinging out to the right?  You may just about make out the two tiny pinholes that look like black dots in this shot.  Well I added a couple of bees using some clear nylon thread which I sandwiched between 'double' bee die-cuts to give a lovely moveable element to my card.  Thankfully they were mirror cuts or this wouldn't have been possible.  There's nothing worse than trying to 'back to back' stamped images only to find the die isn't exactly the same in the reverse. Super frustrating!

 

 

And in true PTI fashion there is even a little 'handmade by' bee stamp included in the set.  I am a great lover of co-ordinating things.   I already plan to add something else with this card and to co-ordinate it, especially as I plan to gift a jar of fine honey with it.  And I even know just the container to put it in since I picked up the berry basket die too - again much larger than I expected but a bit more money at $24 but hey I was on vacation - what else was I gonna spend my money on?

 

 

For anyone interested, here's how I started out.  First up I stamped the PTI library card, cut and rounded the corners.  I really don't like 'harsh' edges so I prefer rounded corners.

 

Next up I inked and distressed the card and stamped up the little honeycomb cluster stamp here and there.  I love when images go off the edge, kinda like you've cut into something.

 

 

Then I stamped the verse and stamped the two part honey bess before die-cutting them and distressing them too.

 

After that it was just a case of building up around the verse with flat bees and bits and bobs from the set like the word 'bee' and the tiny little dot stamp.

 

Because this was a special card I recreated the scripture panel on photo mount board and added a magnet to the reverse so the recipient could add it to their refrigerator as a reminder.

 

If I know anything, I know that God honours His word so it's invaluable to know a good handful of verses you can call to mind and pray through when a need arises.  At some point I plan to pick up a book on the promises of God and maybe do a study on it.

 

For now I just keep collecting the little Verve scripture stamps. mostly when they are on sale so I pick them up for around $2 each and this one has to be one of my favourites now.

 

It feels soooooo good to be crafting again.  I'm back to work fully now and hubby is recovering nicely.  I can't believe this coming Thursday will be 4 weeks post-op so I hope he will be able to try driving in another week or two.  He really misses it.

 

Hope you like

 

Suezie

A Wonderful Wedding

There is nothing so lovely as a wedding to bring people together to celebrate and enjoy what life has to offer.  Christenings and baptisms are lovely too and funerals are a sad but necessary part of life but I haven't been to near enough weddings as I'd like in my lifetime.

This one was super special because it was our own beautiful niece and her boyfriend of 10 years - High School sweethearts that were finally getting married.  The wedding was outdoors, at the new in-laws cabin (everyone seems to have a holiday home!) - which again we've never experienced and we had the privilege of being able to travel back home to be there.

 

This was the happy couple in a photo that was one of the many features dotted around the place.

 

 

This was the scene after we had set everything up the day before.  Can you believe most of this was set out and left ready for the next morning?  I guess you can do that when it's on your own property.

The bride walked down between the two pine trees and in the evening glow sticks were placed in the paper lanterns.

 

 

This is the arch that was decorated for the wedding ceremony and it was amazing not only to hear the birds throughout but also to see squirrels and chipmunks too.  Everything was so natural and so very relaxed, it was super amazing.

 

 

And doesn't this kinda thing just remind you of all the neat stuff you see on Pinterest?  It was all so lovely to see these things up close and personal and in an amazing outdoor setting.

 

 

It was all just way too cool and I'm so very glad we got the chance to be a part of it.

 

 

And here is a shot of our beautiful neice - actually two of them.  We all dressed smart casual for the wedding and then changed up into really comfy casual afterwards.

 

We just had the best time ever and this was only week two.  We still had a whole nother week to go!

 

And by the way we couldn't have been more fortunate with the forest fires that were raging at the time, all around us, we could see smoke and even smell smoke in the air but thankfully we weren't ever in danger of having to be evacuated although it did mean we couldn't go off into the mountaikns like we'd planned due to closures of some areas.  Still we've been up em a few times before so it was not really any kinda big deal I guess.

Last little bit of Maine

And all this we did in just a week because we were spending two weeks in Idaho with family.

 

This was Cadillac Mountain which we took in and actually walked all over, picnic'd on and marvelled at whilst at Acadia National Park.

 

 

These were our wonderful hosts for this first week.  Seventy two years old, both of them and by golly they could out trek us both!

 

 

And boy oh boy we trekked.  The rock formation was seriously weird and you could just walk right out onto the mountain flats here and there.  In fact we found a nice flat spot and ate our picnic admiring the view.

 

Okay so that's more than enough about Maine but I have to share a bit about Idaho too before I get back to craft blogging.

More of Maine

Like I said earlier the hospitality of people in Maine, many of whom had holiday homes there and originally lived in Florida was just amazing.

Dave and Shirley's near neighbours used to have a shore line lobster restaurant that they had long since closed but still boated and fished for lobster.  They treated us to a fabulous lobster bake right on the shoreline with lobsters fresh from the sea, cooked in a big pot of salty sea water and oodles of melted butter for dipping. Obviously I didn't eat any being a veggie-tarian but still, the whole experience was so cool.

 

This was the lobster restaurant out on the water with a screened porch running all the way around it.

 

 

This was the lobsters, fresh from the sea going into the pot of boiling water.  As guest of honour Lew gave David the biggest one to sink his teeth into.

 

 

And there we all sat, right on the shore line next to their dock getting instructions from expert lobster catchers, cookers and tasters on just the best way to go about eating a lobster.

 

 

And earlier that day this was the view of their dock from up at their house looking out.  Although we were on an island there were several mini islands dotted all around the coastline and some had homes on them where the owners had the islands to themselves.

 

 

This is looking back at their dock, towards the shore line.

 

 

And this is a couple of holidays makers (can't imagine who LOL!) lounging around enjoying the sunshine on the dock.  This particular style of chair was everywhere we went, outside homes, on the docks, everywhere.

 

 

And in another time of day you could sit or stand and watch as the sun went down of an evening from the same dock.

 

 

I thought the sunset would be stunning so I hovered on the dock trying to capture some kind of amazing moment in time.

 

 

But it was Shirely who encouraged me to hang around a bit longer to see the wonderful array of colours that last only a short while as the sun lights up the clouds from underneath right before it finally disappears.  There were pinks, oranges, purples, blues, yellows - all manner of wonderful colours so it was well worth the wait.

 

 

But I was spoilt for choice in the many lovely things to photograph - not just nature and the world around us but all kinds of quirky Americana.

 

 

Don't you just love this sign that says 'Come in we're Awesome'.  The peeling paint just wouldn't look the same over here but there is fit right in and looked so rustic and natural.

 

 

And I loved that there were American flags flying in just about every concievable place they could put one.

Feet Back on The Ground

Well it's been about 3 weeks since we've had our feet firmly back on the ground and back in the UK and things are beginning to get back to norm somewhat.

It's been way longer since I posted anything.  There was just so much going on in the run up to our trip and quite a bit on the other side too.

Hubby underwent back surgery 3 days after landing - which still amazes me even thinking about it but he is recovering a little more each day.  In fact we say 'every day is a day closer to recovery' and it keeps us going.  Time to heal is really all he needs now.

There is so much I could share and way morfe that I'd like to share but I don't have the time or space and I don't know just how interested anyone is in our vacation piccies.  We had the opportunity to go somewhere different this trip around.  We always knew we would never go anywhere other than Idaho untill Mom was no longer with us and we prayed hard and saved hard and somehow managed to afford to do both!  It was for us a dream vacation.

 

When we decided to go see some very dear friends and then the date got changed because of a family wedding we had no idea we'd end up at their summer house in Maine.  I was secretly thrilled as I didn't fancy visiting them in Florida in August

 

 

They lived on a little place callede 'Deer Isle' and this brodge was the only link to the mainland.  It was way less scary than I first imagined.

 

 

We were surrounded by charm and Americana which is just as I'd hoped so it didn't disappoint.

 

 

Everywhere we went was beautiful and just oozing charm and yep, we did that weird thing over there that many Americans do here and snapped up pictures of stuff that they think of as perfectly ordinary but that we are just delighted with.  Whenever Mom came to stay we'd pull over now and then so she could take pictures of thatched cottages.  When we went there I'd take pictures of pretty white washed churches and painted houses.

 

 

Maine was surrounded by water so there was a stunning view just waiting around every turn.  This was taken at one of our hosts friends lake when they invited us over for a BBQ lunch.  Paul and Michelle were a really sweet couple.

 

Their log cabin home was set in 85 acres of beautiful surroundings with their own lake and wild blueberry bushes growing everywhere.  In fact Maine was littered with wild blueberry bushes and people just stopped and picked them all the time.  Who knew?

 

 

This was just the little place they called 'camp' which was no far from their cabin home.  We carried our picnic and burgers and BBQ'd them on the deck before going down to the lake afterwards.

 

If there was one thing that Maine did well it was hospitality. Just about EVERYONE was so warm and friendly that it really made our trip all the more special.

 

I apologise but I have a few more to share yet and then a bit of crafty posting to follow.

WMS Beautiful Roses

I have had so much fun mixing up stamp inks and colours to make more of those fabby vintage roses using my Christmas pressie set from Waltzing Mouse Stamps lately.  I have used crafting as my therapy quite a bit of late so I guess you could say there's an up side to all the madness and changes that I just can't keep up with at work right now.  After a crafting session I am wonderfully chilled and relaxed - every bit as good as a massage I'd say!

I had these stamped and cut rose images out on my table this week and finally made up a couple of cards.

 

This first one has lots of detail to keep it from being CAS.  I know, it would look lovely as a CAS card but I just can't help myself!!!!

 

I can't stop using Tim Holtz distress inks because I actually like the look they give.  I started by distressing a cream card base with a 'straw' yellow ink.  Next I stamped the WMS chicken wire stamp as a background.  Then I added some pretty WMS swirls to sit at two corners of my scripture block.

 

After that it was adding the rose and a bit of glitter spray.  I yellowed up cream cardstock and stamped my rose in 'marmalade' orange.  I added the final layer of stamping in brown and distressed the fnished image.  The leaves were stamped with a light straw base (I stamped off first to get a lighter shade) then the second stamp was a full ink and finally the last was a brown ink called 'corduroy'.  A bit more distressing and I was a happy bunny :-)

 

 

 

My second card had the same WMS chicken wire stamping on the background except that stamped it through a mask where I had torn out a rectangle to stamp through for a 'patch' of detail.

 

I grabbed a PTI stamped button card that I had to hand and too the edge of my scissors to it along with some distressing inks.  I have a special tool for this job but when I'm in mid flow sometimes I manage and make do cos I can't be bothered to go looking for something.

 

 

 

I kept the colour scheme soft and subtle in blue/grey tones.  The rose is stamped blue believe it or not but it looks grey.  The first base of the leaves was a 'stamped off' charcoal grey.  The next layer was the blue and then the final layer was full on charcoal grey.

 

The subtle mini rose images and leaves around the outer edge were created by stamping off and then again distressing the edges to finish.  I left it so I could add a bit of ribbon or twin behind this button card which could be tied into a bow at the side.  Just as soon as I find a piece of ribbon that works perfect I'll add it.

 

Well I'm headed to Bedfordshire cos I can't stop yawning so hope you enjoy.

 

Hugs

 

Suezie

Waltzing Mouse PJ Party Challenge 4

Okay so the clock is ticking and I have another project to link for the WMS PJ Party.  This time I used a bit of creative license with the tag sketch.

This entry is for Challenge 4 - Bedtime Sketch

 

The idea was to make up a trio of tags with a smaller tag as a sentiment over the top.  Two of my tags match this perfectly but I decided to get a bit creative with the middle tag and add a chipboard 60 for hubby's birthday next week.

 

 



 

I did make up three tags using the same WMS western stamps sets but I wanted to add a little something extra so I used the pennant (bunting) to create a western bunting with the tags as the centrepiece.

 

It's kinda hard to get a picture of these once you stretch them out so this is the best I could do at short notice.  I used red stamped pennants on the front of the tags and blue ones in between.

 

I'm hoping this still counts!

 

Thanks to the PJ challenge I am just about ready with crafting in time for the BIG 60 Day!

 

Hope you like.

 

Blessings

 

Suezie

Waltzing Mouse PJ Party Challenge 2

I am desperately trying to get my project uploaded in time for the Waltzing Mouse PJ Party.

I made my first project a while ago now so I'd be ready in time but then I decided today when I got home to enter a second challenge and got distracted crafting this evening.

 

Anyhow here's the first post which is for Challenge 2 - Surprise Him!

 

 

I am still playing around making my own paper bags and this time I made one using brown wrapping paper on the roll.  I featured my homemade pattern a few posts back for anyone that's interested.

 

I grabbed a couple fo WMS western sets and got to work stamping up the bag in a dark denim ink.

 

 

This would make really cute wrap doen up in a large sheet so I may do this again.  I also stamped up a bunch of different elements to decorate the bag with.  I love that everything co-ordinates so well when you use complimenting stamp sets. 

 

 

Here's a close up shot of the top of the bag layered up with a red bunting strip, blue pennant, birthday tag and a Sheriff star badge to boot.

 

 

I arranged everything so I could keep the bottom right corner visable.  And it is for a BIG day too - hubby is turning 60 on Tuesday and I wanted something to put his birthday surprise into to tuck inside his card.

 

 

So this is the surprise element - dollars!  We are making a trip back home this year and had intended to go for his 60th as a nice treat but our niece announced she was getting married in August so we decided to postpone it until then.

 

Hubby doesn't really know what he wants so the kids and I are giving him dollars to spend once we get back home.  I'm sure he can find something he wants and will really enjoy spending it.

 

Enjoy!

 

Suezie