HAPPY THANKSGIVING, ALL!

I'm not sure I've ever had a November that I was more glad to get to the end of! SO MUCH going on in our household! We are at the end of the 2nd week of renovation on our kitchen and it has gone much more smoothly than I would have anticipated. Monday morning the cabinet guy will arrive with most of the new cabinets and doors and drawers, so by the end of Monday we will be back up and running at full-speed once again. At the moment we have an extra bedroom stacked high with all of the odds and ends of a kitchen. Fortunately my son invited us over for Thanksgiving dinner, so we didn't have to make-do and spent a very nice evening with the grandkids.

In the meantime I've been working on a couple of challenges that caught my eye. This one is for CAS(E) This Sketch #399.

This is created from a lot of diverse dies and stamps. The main sentiment is from Impression Obsession and the swirl behind it is ancient - I have no idea whose it is, but it's been in my stash for quite a few years. The snowflake die is one of Hero Arts Fancy Dies from last year and the snowflake rectangular image is Kaiser Craft "Fading Dots". The inks are VersaMark Watermark, PTI "Enchanted Evening", Hero Arts Pigment Ink "Unicorn" and white embossing powder (background).

CAS(E) this Sketch!: CAS(E) this Sketch #399

 

 

 

BLUE & SILVER CHRISTMAS CARD

This is the final card from my busy Sunday. This one was created for the "Less Is More" color challenge #432 - Blue & Silver or Red & Gold.

I used a Halloween stamp (Stampers Anonymous Tim Holtz "Haunted House") for the snow flurry behind the snowflake! The snowflake die is from Penny Black 51-561 "Snowflake Tag". The ink was Versamark Watermark and silver embossing powder.

http://simplylessismoore.blogspot.com/2020/11/challenge-432-blue-silver-or-red-gold.html

HAPPY WINTER BIRTHDAY

 Card #2 from Sunday, a birthday card for a cousin.

This one is to be entered into this week's "Seize the Birthday" #203 - 1, 2, 3

1 die cut, 2 colors, and 3 embellishments

http://seizethebirthday.blogspot.com/2020/11/seize-birthday-203-1-2-and-3.html

WELCOME FALL

 

A view of my dining room buffet decked out for Fall.

This next week will be very busy as workmen are arriving tomorrow morning to tear up my kitchen in preparation for new countertops, sink and faucet, cooktop, vent hood, and some new overhead cabinets. Our kitchen is tiny and as much as I would love to just tear out the wall between kitchen and dining and start from scratch, it ain't gonna happen! So we're satisfying ourselves by just widening the opening between the two rooms and adding a bar-height counter on the dining side. It's pretty minimal but will at least open the rooms more to one another. Given any other year I wouldn't proceed with this project the week before Thanksgiving - but 2020 is not like any other year I've known in my 3/4 of a century on this earth. We'll not be hosting a large family gathering this year. Oregon is partially closed down again for the next two weeks and gatherings of more than 6 are discouraged.

 

BACK IN THE CRAFT ROOM

This year's Halloween card was so time-consuming that it nearly put me off card-making for a while! I did manage to turn out 26 Thanksgiving cards, which will go into the mail this week. But I realized as I was sealing and addressing the final one, I had forgotten to photograph them! 

Yesterday I went back into my craft room/office to participated in three card challenges. It's amazing to me that I can make such a mess turning out only three cards!

The first card for "Color Throwdown #619 - Aqua, Red, and Silver".

It's been raining all day and there's very little light. The white is coming off as pink because of reflection. The little bird image and sentiment are both from Impression Obsession and the various dies are from a bunch of different ones in my stash. Ink is Versamark Watermark Ink with Zing! and Stampendous Embossing Powders. 

https://colorthrowdown.blogspot.com/2020/11/color-throwdown-countdown-619.html

THIS YEAR'S HALLOWEEN CARD

Well, I'm not sure what possessed me to make such a complicated Halloween card this year, but I'm pretty sure I won't do it again!

 

This thing was multiple folds and steps and die-cut layers and I made 25 of them and I practically have to take out a second mortgage to pay for the postage! I don't know what the name of this fold is, but it stands up on its own for display.

 

Most of the dies came from the Jim Holtz collection for Sizzix and I am absolutely in love with those ghosts. I cut them from vellum so that they would appear to be translucent. The cardstock and matching envelopes are from LCI Papers and I lined the envelopes with lightweight scrapbook paper in orange with white polkadots. The stamped images on the front fold are done with white embossing powder. 

THE FALL SEASON

Here it is October 4th already and while September has always been my favorite month, I'm very glad to see it in my rearview mirror this year. Between my husband's birthday and my own I lost my oldest brother very suddenly and the following day my favorite aunt passed away - two gut-punches in a row. So I've been pretty much AWOL from my crafting and just about everything else I usually enjoy doing.

Today I'm making a small effort toward getting back to normal (whatever it is that passes for normal these days) with this Halloween offering that I'm entering in this week's CAS(E) this Sketch #392. 

The main images in this are from a Jim Holtz collection of last year and the stitching is Stampers Anonymous "Stitches" #CMS365 using white embossing powder. The papers are all scraps from my stash.

http://casethissketch.blogspot.com/2020/10/case-this-sketch-392.html

   

FIRST CHRISTMAS CARD OF THE SEASON!

Today's entry is for two challenges - Color Throwdown - CTD 611 (gray, green, kraft, and white) and Freshly Made Sketched 453:

I hope I'll be forgiven the small amount of red on this card for the Color Throwdown! 

The trees were fussy-cut from some old Christmas paper. The circle die is an old one that I've had long enough that I don't remember from where it came. The background wavy snow was a Lawn Fawn die and the deer die is from My Favorite Things. The falling snow is KaiserCraft "Fading Dots" using white embossing powder. The sentiment is Impression Obsession B13486 stamped with PTI "New Leaf".

https://colorthrowdown.blogspot.com/2020/09/color-throwdown-countdown-611.html

https://freshlymadesketches.blogspot.com/2020/09/freshly-made-sketches-453-sketch-by-judy.html

  

AUTUMN COLORS

Impression Obsession's current challenge is to produce a card with autumn colors. This is my entry:

The framed image is IO #CL698 "Early Sunsets". The sentiment is from the same stamp set, but don't tell Lindsay Ostrom (the designer) that I cut off the "Falling Leaves" portion of her Early Sunsets sentiment! All ink is PTI "Dark Chocolate" and the coloring is done using Copic markers. The envelope is custom.

https://mitrafriant.typepad.com/impression_obsession_news/2020/09/autumn-colors-challenge-fun.html

 

SEPTEMBER IS BIRTHDAY MONTH

September is always a big month for our family. The twins have their birthdays on the 9th, my son's father's birthday is the 11th, my husband's is the 17th, and if my dad was still alive this Friday would have been his 100th. My birthday is the 25th and my sister-in-law's is the 2nd. My son and his wife celebrate their anniversary on the 28th.

This is the birthday card and envelope for my husband's birthday on Thursday. I used the challenge at Seize the Birthday #199 - "Die Cuts Only" as a jumping-off point. 

Dies: Main flower image Alexandra Renke "Magic Flower 2" and rectangular dies from my stash, unknown

Ink: VersaMark Watermark with Stampendous "Pirate Gold" embossing powder

http://seizethebirthday.blogspot.com/2020/09/seize-birthday-199-die-cuts.html

September 25, 2020

HALLOWEEN CARD #4

Less is More Challenge #428 "Shades of Purple" is where I started today. I'm not sure that this completely works as a "Less is More" card. When it comes to Halloween cards I tend to tart them up a bit more than most of my cards! (It's also tough to photograph with our horrible smoky atmosphere.) 

Dies: Sizzix Thinlits - Jim Holtz #664194 and #664209

Stamps: "Happy Halloween" from my stash (Simon Says?), spider web Jim Holtz image from last year, and the bat from Stampers Anonymous "Haunted House #CMMS308"

Inks: VersaMark Watermark with ZING! "Purple" Embossing Powder and Hero Arts "Unicorn"

The card inside is all yellow-orange with the windows cut through the card to show the interior color.

http://simplylessismoore.blogspot.com/2020/09/challenge-428-shades-of-purple.html

HALLOWEEN CARD #3 - CUT INTO THIRDS

Playing with Halloween cards is a good way to take my mind off the horrible happenings here in southern Oregon. I live 3 miles from Phoenix, OR and the Almeda Fire that ripped through that community and neighboring communities of Ashland, Talent, and southwest Medford. After a couple of days of having our bags packed in case of evacuation, we're now dealing with the horrific air quality and heavy smoke. There's still no official count of how many homes and business were razed or the full extent of the damage. 

However, we have been very fortunate - we and our son and his family all still have a house over our heads. For that we're very thankful.

I used the challenge at Just Us Girls #553 "Cut Into Thirds" as the inspiration for this card.

The house and tree dies are from Sizzix Thinlits Jim Holtz #664194 and the stamped witch image is also Jim Holtz - Stampers Anonymous "Haunted House CMS308. The coordinating #10 envelope is made using an Anna Griffin plastic template I've had for quite a few years.

Here's a close-up of the banner on the witch's broom:

http://justusgirlschallenge.blogspot.com/2020/09/just-us-girls-553-trend-week.html

 

SPECIAL THANKS TO OUR SUPPORTERS

 I do volunteer work for an organization (Northwest Seasonal Workers Association) that provides emergency food and clothing, medical and dental help, and legal advocacy services for the county's seasonal workers. Seasonal workers are described as anyone whose work is seasonal in nature - agriculture, fire-fighting, and hospitality. In addition to their work being seasonal, the seasonal worker is also our lowest-paid wage earner. Our organization is made up completely of volunteers and it's structured as a self-help vehicle. IOW, if a member asks for assistance, they're expected to spend time volunteering in exchange for that help. However, we never turn away requests for food if someone stops by our office who is hungry. Given the current state of affairs in this country, our organization has been exceptionally busy distributing food and legal advice and assisting with wage-theft and illegal evictions.  

Off the soapbox! Our supporters have been particularly generous this past 6 months and I've been turning out cards for special, more personal thank you notes. I used this week's CAS(E) this Sketch #388 as a jumping-off point for the cards.

One of the ways our group raises funds is through sales of annual calendars produced and provided to us free-of-charge from the National Labor Federation. These calendars are filled with beautiful illustrations by professional artists. Last year's calendar had a poster insert that I've been using to make envelopes for our cards. The die-cut flower stems (Sizzix Thinlits - Jim Holtz) are cut from the scraps left after using what's needed for the envelope.

Each of these cards will be unique as I run out of a particular color of ribbon or use scraps in my own stash. I have to turn out 40 of these!

http://casethissketch.blogspot.com/2020/09/case-this-sketch-388.html