Hello Winter!

 

Hello Winter!!  Even after all these 50+ years you still amaze me and fill my heart with wonder!  I was lucky to grow up in wide open spaces and the silent enormity of Winter has always overwhelmed my heart with presence of God.  
There aren't a lot of distractions in a snow scape . . .  Sometimes it seems like endless miles of snow, bare trees, and rolling hills.   I always feel small and vulnerable; just a speck in this awesome universe that speaks to the presence of its creator.
   
The beginning of this card was simply a galaxy background. I followed it with an experimental window I then framed with an emboss only "die". The snowflake circle was left over from another snowy card and I loved the dimension it added to this cosmic background piece!

God bless you this cold & snowy season! I hope you find plenty of time to catch snowflakes and "be still" ………..

Christmas Magic! / Vintage Pick-up Truck

Good Wintery Morning! Just a quick post for the fun of it!!! The Stamp is from Unity Stamp Co and the artist is Tierra Jackson - "Christmas Magic"!!  I LOVE coloring this dozens of ways or just leaving it in sepia (which really is coloring it after-all!!)

This is water colored with Zig Real Brush colors.  

Quick and easy, I embossed the Unity sentiment in lime green and mounted it all on an ink smudged blue background matching the pick-up truck.  

Sparkly snowflakes & a few Nuvo Crystal Drops for berries

 and ta-da!!

Easy and gratifying!!  Have a Wonderful Wintery Day!!!

A Christmas Garland of Warm Memories

For me it's here!!  Not just Autumn, or Thanksgiving...  The WHOLE HOLIDAY SEASON!  I love it and I try to savor it for as long as possible!!  My decorations go up as early as I have energy for!!  and usually come down when the bright rebirth of Easter starts to send it's sunny rays through the house!

Of course I was excited when I was asked to make a garland out of some very special mittens a mother knit with love. Now that the child who received them was grown she didn't have need of the mittens but did not want to get rid of them, nor store them in a box where they couldn't be appreciated.  So the idea of the memory garland was born!

Reverse side of the Garland

    The words Warm Memories are a part of the garland, along with some fun charms, jingle bells and sparkly snowflakes.  It was then that I thought of the scrapbook idea of adding little frames for photos depicting some of the warm memories.  Since actual frames turned out to be difficult to come by, and the tiny frames I did have were quite heavy, I decided to make my own with silvery papers and large die-cuts.  I also plan to experiment with light weight medium in silicone molds!! (Stay Tuned!)

Instead of glue, I simply sewed everything to the mittens & strung them to sturdy jute cord.  This way the mittens were not damaged and can actually be used as mittens again should the desire ever arise!  Cloths pins were added to make it appear as if the mittens were actually attached to the cord with them.  I wanted the word "MEMORIES" to dangle like charms.  To make them sturdy I tripled the cardstock for each letter and then put small jump rings through the letters so they were able to move freely after I attached them to the end of several mittens!!

I finished the back of the garland and put my "Hi!" Notes Label on a snowflake!  Since the garland could be used in a window both sides are great to look at!!
 

4H Radio Auction ~ October 12, 2019

Class Saturday October 19, 2019 @ 1pm - 5pm

Hello Friends!!  If you would like to bid on the 5th/BONUS spot in the "Haunted Mansion" workshop please visit:  http://wc4h.eoni.com/     
for all the details how you can win a spot for this fun class!!  The auction is October 12th & is easy to bid on ~ call in your bid @ (541) 426-7778  and talk to a youth! Feel free to ask them what the 4H experience has been like for them!!

Thank You for supporting 

our local 4-H programs!!

I 💖 Autumn

Today I am celebrating a new addition to my Autumn!  (& every day of the year from now on!!)  And part of that celebration is a big THANK YOU! to the good friend who made this little pumpkin hauling (yes! I have plans....) truck part of my reality!!

Here is the card I made to thank her before I remembered that she STRONGLY dislikes orange (& that's
a big reason she wanted rid of the truck so bad!!!)  I thought I would share it with you all any way since I LOVE Autumn colors, including orange, rust, etc!!

This was simple to create.  I used TH Distress Inks (Fired Brick, Rusty Hinge, Spiced Marmalade & Mustard Seed) Intensely blended on heavy white cardstock and stamped with 2 of my favorites from Unity Stamp Co!!  They were embossed with clear iridescent embossing powder from Stampin' Up! and then blotted with a wet towel until I got the soft results you see here.  The intense ink was trapped and unchanged under the embossing powder! 

Then I found a pretty frame die that highlighted the star of the show ~ that gorgeous leaf with a heart!  I piled 3 of those together for dimension doing the same for the die cut sentiment.   All 3 parts are mounted on Stampin' Up!'s "Really Rust" textured paper.  

I think I will be messing around with making more variations of these!!
Happy first day of  Autumn!!
Oh! PS I used a red colored pencil to highlight the heart!!

Autumn Scrapbook ~ Recap & all the rest!!

 
 

I have had so much fun with this project!  I hope you've enjoyed browsing through it. Here are some closeups and examples of the change-ups that make it so versatile.  The stamped images are all from Unity Stamp Co. with the exception of the circles background (Penny Black) & scrolls (Inkadinkado) on the cover and the Sparkle & Sprinkle digi image on the front cover while the dies and papers  are from various companies.  If you are interested in any of them, leave a comment & I will get back to you with specifics!! Here's a link to fun with the fox as I planned the pages.

First page open: 

Second page:


Third page layout:


Last page layout: 


Front and Back Covers:
  


Links to the other Autumn Scrapbook posts:
Autumn Scrapbook
Autumn Scrapbook ~ Corner Pockets & Squirrel
Autumn Pocket Pages
Autumn ~ Lift a Flap & Pull Out
Autumn ~ Magnetic Envelope

Other Posts related to this project:

"Autumn Scrapbook Journal Cover"

"The Eyes Have It"

Autumn Scrapbook ~ magnetic envelope

Just a quickie today!!  I finished the album with a wonderful envelope on the back cover. A great place to tuck in extra die cuts for journaling, pictures, a pressed leaf, love notes, a poem... all kept safe and sound with a strong magnetic closure.  I planned to hide the magnet inside paper layers, but found that it wasn't worth the reduction of  closure strength.  

For added interest, I stamped the flap with tone on tone leaf prints and added a stitched edge to the patterned paper accent.

I will make one more post with the pages I haven't included in the past couple of weeks, meanwhile, here are links to the posts associated with this Autumn Scrapbook.  

   Corner Pockets ~ Squirrel

    Autumn Pocket Pages

    Autumn Lift a Flap & Pull Out

    Magnetic Envelope

    Recap & all the rest

Available as they are posted...

Other Posts related to this project:

"Autumn Scrapbook Journal Cover"

"The Eyes Have It"

Gold Embossing Powder Comparison

I was recently asked what kind of gold embossing powder I used on my "Something Feminine" post which you can see Here.  So I thought I would show you several gold embossing powders I have purchased -- trying to find one I liked as much as the bright gold Joanne Craft Essientials powder I'd used for years! I cried when I learned it was unavailable ~ I searched Amazon & eBay!!  I tried mixing a couple of gold powders (one was too pale, one was too dark) but when combined they just looked speckled!! :(  I also tried YouTube.com with little success!

So here's a quickie of what I have on my shelf ~ I know some of them are a few years old but maybe you have them on your shelf like I do & wonder how they compare to others!  Hopefully this will help if you plan on purchasing gold embossing & are looking for a particular look :)  CLICK photos to read the brands . . . .

 

Some are more brown or yellow while others are dull or bright.
I found that Lindy's was a little bit see through. Try it with colored inks like red or cocoa for interesting color differences!  Here it's stamped over a deep brown as opposed to over a clear ink.

I personally prefer the slick, liquid look of the Stampin' Up! Gold which is what I used on the "Something Feminine" post.  Followed by a close second of the Ranger Princess Gold.

In my quest to find a gold that I liked as much as the Joanne Craft Essentials I want to try out many more, with names like Enchanted Gold, Gilded Gold, Pearl Gold, Queen's Gold . . . .  by companies like Ranger, Stampendous, Zing, Wow, Nuvo and lesser known brands. But who can afford to!!?  So if you have some embossing samples to share please do so!!  You can add a link in your comments below or feel free to post comparison photos on my Face Book Page "Hi!" Notes.

Hope this helps a little!!  Happy Crafting ;)