Hello, Autumn...

Well, this is a quick one, today, because we have some friends coming tomorrow for the Labor Day weekend, and I have to clean and shop, and cook and stuff...

So, the first of the autumn cards are showing up in blogland, and I am happy to say I too, have gotten started.

I made this--

I did the stamping with GinaK Designs Fall Foliage set, and I did a rock and roll sort of thing with different inks.  I sprayed the stamp with alcohol before stamping in some instances, and on some of the leaves I stamped over them with the same stamp, and just one color.  Clearly some experimentation was being done here! 

I also like that I sneaked (snuck?) in some aqua tones.  Any chance to shake up the traditional colors thing...

I used my Stampin' Up wood grain embossing folder on the background piece, and added some white pigment ink directly to the raised surfaces. 

One day I will master the "white gel pen stitching" technique, but not today. 

Oh, and those acorn diecuts are done with a Papertrey Ink die, and run trough several embossing folders.

SO, that's the kick off!  Let the autumn begin!  (I'm not a summer person, anyway...)

Have a great holiday weekend, to those who do Labor Day-

Thanks for stopping by!
All Best-
Richard

Mr Cardmaker is Going to Need Some More Coffee...

Well, I have a really large stack of cards to photograph.  For some reason, this is a chore for me.  I think because my light box is in the basement, and the computer is in the office, the cards are in the craft space....I am in need of a better system.  Did I mention I live with a Lean Six Sigma systems expert?  I have no excuse, really.

HOWEVER!  Our niece Jessie just got a job offer at a Government agency, and we are over the moon about it!  She HAD to get a card, right?  So, I ran to my workspace, got going, and worked.  And worked.  And worked.  And finally, I came up with a card.  Unfortunately, it looked sort of...well, WORKED.  Tortured, actually.  Over-designed (thank you, Project Runway, for that term), too much stuff in all the wrong places.

Maybe I'll save it for a Friday Fix card, one day. 

Anyway, I started over, and went in the directly other direction.  Simple, simple, simple.

I used to be so afraid of CAS cards.  Now I live for them.

I made Jessie this--

 

I LOVE this stamp set from CAS-ual Fridays.  AND, I love embossing it in gold. 

 

So, this is as simple as three panels of paper, one popped up and corner-rounded, and some sequins, and there it is!  (it DID take me about 10 minutes to pick the right sequins, btw...)

 

It's all about putting the right stuff in the right spot, folks!  Sometimes it takes hours to do it, however...

 

She loved it.  That makes me smile.

 

Meanwhile, time to get my butt down to the light box, then back up to the computer; with a detour into the craft space first to GET the cards...

 

I need coffee.

 

Thanks for stopping by!

All Best-

Richard

 



Presto Change-OH! (It's the House Pictures, Y'all!)

OK, so not so Presto, really, but there have been some "change-o" things happening here at the house.

We are FINALLY done with everything we had planned to do, so it's time for some photos! 

So, here is the way we found the house when we moved in--
(These are photos from late winter, so it really isn't AS fair as it could be...)

I am a color person, (can you guess?) and so it took a minute to appreciate all that could be done to this white on white on white house.

Never loved the tiny shutters we started with.  Yucko color for me, too.

You'll notice in the "after" pics, the scalloped header is gone from the front window--SO GLAD.  You can also see the replacement  curtains in some of the close-ups.

So, nice house with lots of potential, right?  So, some paint, new shutters, trim up some trees, yadda, yadda, yadda, and (drum roll, please).....

 

 

Viola!

 

 

I was particularly interested in getting shutters that look like the could actually close on the windows and cover  them.  I am personally not a fan of puny shutters.  I also like panel shutters over louvers.

Charlie switched out the really heavy dark screen for one that is almost invisible.  I do wish I could make the frame green, too, but I am not sure how to make that happen.  We also switched out a tiny white light fixture for a black one (to go with the black shutters) with some visual weight to it. 

The sycamore in front got some branches removed, to make things more visible, and to get a branch off the roof. and we also trimmed up the pine tree so we could walk under it and have better views of the neighborhood..  Oh, and you can barely see that our post lamp has the same light as the porch.  (lower right corner)

We did coleuses instead of flowers in the window boxes.  I love the hot pink colored ones, and that juicy lime green!  A sweet potato vine and some grass add some softness and a draping effect.  Lush and colorful!





 

 

 

 House number found on Etsy--

 

I am having some Blogger issues, but I am DETERMINED to get these posted today.  I hope all the buildup doesn't end up with a huge letdown. 

 

I love what we ended up with, and we're looking forward to doing some fun, new landscaping next year.  The ONLY thing I didn't get to do is to paint the little hexagon window on the top of the house black.  Can't reach, can't rent a long enough ladder, and can't afford somebody with a cherry picker.  Oh well, it'll have to do as is, at least for now.  Not just good, it's good enough...

 

Oh, and we'd also like to get just a little bit more of that lime green in somewhere.  Any ideas?

 

 

So that's the house!  Hope you like it. 

Thanks for stopping by!

All best-

Richard

Mr Cardmaker is Bloomin' Grateful

My sweet friend Lisa Minckler is a wicked awesome papercrafter.  She comes up with the most amazing, intricate projects, both big and small, cards and so much more than cards.  Her blog is SO worth checking out.  You can find her HERE.

Well, back in June, I shared some plans I had to spruce up the house here on the blog, with chatter about paint colors, etc.  Well, this clever girl has some serious inspiration grabbing eyepeepers, because after she read that, she came up with the most amazing card.  And it was for ME! 

This is Lisa's card--


Is this not the sweetest thing?  This looks SO much like the front of my house too, right down to the little eaves above the doorway.

(OKAY, I realize this is the perfect time for me to show you the "before and after" pics of the finished house update.  I PROMISE I will take the photos THIS WEEKEND.)

Anyway, long story short, she sent it AND a lovely housewarming gift (who can afford to do that!?),
and I am just so grateful to her for her generous spirit and friendship. 

So, I made this--

I have loved this Inkadinkadoo flowers set to DEATH, but I really love it.  Let me reiterate that I am NO Copics artist, but these were lots of fun to color up.  Coloring still makes me a calmer person, even though I've traded my Crayolas for Copics.

So, a heartfelt THANK YOU to my Lisa, and yes, I will hold true to my word about those house pics.

Hope you have a wonderful weekend!  CREATE something!
Thanks so much for stopping by!
All Best-
Richard

Color Inspiration With the Oozak Team!

Well, the heat of summer has led us on the Oozak Challenge Blog Design Team to head deep under water for our Color Inspiration Challenge-

This is our inspiration--

I decided to go in a literal vein, so I did an underwater scene of my own.
It looks like this--

I used so many stamps sets on this thing, I can't even tell you all of them.  The start, though happens at the center of the smallest circle, with grasses in several colors, then gets to the second level, here you find coral.

Then outward to those purple things-(sea anemones, maybe?), and finally to the clump of sea growth in the front.

I put the layers through an embossing folder before stacking them and attaching the sea life images.  Lots of foam adhesive used on this one, for sure!

 

The bubbles are white gel pen and glitter pen, and I tore and colored some vellum strips to give the idea of movement underwater.  The little fishies are colored with copics, and then embossed with holographic embossing powder.

 

This one was a BIG amount of work, and it actually looked like it would hit the bin at several steps along the way. Overall, I am happy with it, though.  Perseverance is a good thing, sometimes!

 

Come join us at the Oozak Challenge Blog!  Play along, or just comment on your favorite product used for a chance to win a $10.00 gift certificate. 

 

I am also entering this is A Blog Named Hero's victorious-vellum challenge.

 

Thanks for stopping by!

All Best--

Richard

Something Funny's Going On With the Oozak Team

Well, I am tardy to this party, thanks to my attending the one thrown for ME, in honor of my 50th birthday!  I got whisked away to Stratford, Ontario, Canada! TOTAL SURPRISE!

My Charlie was the host of this affair, and we got to have along his sister Sue and her husband Mike (Another surprise!) 

We got there on Thursday afternoon (Aug 1), and we dove right into the Stratford Shakespeare Festival.  Between Thursday and Sunday, we saw FIVE shows--Three Shakespeare plays, a Noel Coward, and the musical Tommy.  WOW is the very best thing I can say about that!  Lots of great food, a charming city, and wonderful company. Couldn't ask for better!

 

THEN- Monday morning, Sue and Mike headed home, and we headed to Toronto!  My first visit there, and we had a really nice time.  We stayed right in the middle of things, and saw so much of the city!  I am happy and exhausted!

 

Meanwhile--

 

I was actually prepared WAY in advance to post this, but I forgot to set a timer on Blogger. The best laid plans...

 

SO!  This is my card that I am showing over at the Oozak Challenge Blog.  We're doing Anything Goes with Something Funny this time.

 

I made this--

 

I have owned this stamp from Stampin' Up for ages, and I think I have never used it before.  I thought it paired up with my sweet giraffe from The Alley Way Stamps very nicely.  I loved stamping and cutting these My Mind's Eye papers, especially the aqua dots that I used on the giraffe.

 

I love these flower buttons from Stampin' Up, and I used my old trick of "threading" them with teensy strips of paper, instead of fibers. 

 

I think the skinny red mats really set things off well, too.

This was a fun one!

 

Stop over at Oozak.com and check out some of their good supplies and WICKED good prices, and play along with us!  You could win a $10.00 gift certificate, just for commenting on the blog!

 

Thanks for stopping by!
All Best-
Richard