CAS376 - Dry

Keeping It Clean & Simple

Hello Friends!

I’m playing along with card challenges this week; this one from CASology with the theme “DRY”.  As the name implies, “CAS” stands for Clean And Simple.  This is hard for me, as I prefer using lots of layers, texture, and of course, bling!  But, always up for a challenge, I decided to play along!  (#CAS376)

Last night Dean and I took an evening hike up to our future cabin site (AKA Janet’s future stamp-camp site!).  The crisp evening air, the changing color of the leaves, and the sunset were spectacular!

This is where Dean proposed to me 8 years ago, and whether it’s because of this, or just simply the beautiful scenery, or both, this spot elicits a magical feeling inside me.  I can’t be in that spot and not wrap my arms around him and say….YES, YES, YES, a thousand times YES!  I am so very blessed to love, and be loved by, him.  We stayed up there and watched the sun set before we made our way back down the mountain in the dark.

And, oh my, after the sun set it got very cold!  When we reached home, I made my way down to the barn and put blankets on my boys (horses), which they seemed to greatly appreciate judging by the snuggles I got!  Yes, Fall is certainly here!  And, our walk is where my inspiration for this challenge came from;  lots of “dry” autumn leaves on the ground!

CAS376 - Dry

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Life Is Beautiful

Hello Friends!

Today’s card features the “Life Is Beautiful” stamp set which can be seasonally appropriate throughout the entire year, depending on how you choose to adorn your tree.  Since it’s Fall, I chose to stamp my leaves in bright Fall colors.  I also used some preserved Madrone tree bark, as I’ve used in previous posts.  Directions for how to preserve the bark can be found here.

I couldn’t agree more with the sentiment on this card, also from the “Life Is Beautiful” stamp set.  Despite the havoc coming at us from every direction throughout 2020, if we stop and take stock of how beautiful and precious life is, it becomes quite easy to focus with 20-20 vision – Life-Is-Beautiful!

This year has required many adjustments, but despite the inconveniences and angst, life goes on and we have so much to be thankful for!  I guess it all comes down to “looking at the glass half empty, or half full”.  I choose “half-full”.

I have to admit that I haven’t always had that “half-full” attitude.  I had some life circumstances in years gone by which were “trying” (to put it mildly), and I felt quite justified in my negativity.  I began down a very slippery slope of unhappiness and the “blame game” secondary to somebody else’s choices, and circumstances that were out of my control.

A very dear friend, who also happened to be my doctor and employer, recognized this and on a particularly bad afternoon, simply said to me, “You know, Jan, happiness is a choice.  You can choose to be happy even during tough times.”

Whoa!  Wait a minute!  I wanted to argue and justify that this, this and this were why I couldn’t be happy (it wasn’t my fault…)!  But that small voice inside me told me to keep my mouth shut and think about what he’d just said.  After much deliberation, I had to admit, he was right!  While I couldn’t control many of the circumstances around me, I could control my attitude and make a choice to be happy despite my circumstances.

Light-bulb moment:  My happiness didn’t have to hinge on what someone else did or didn’t do.

That revelation changed everything for me and I set about very purposely being happy, seeing the glass half full instead of half empty you might say.  It wasn’t easy, as my circumstances and challenges were still there.  But I awoke every morning with a determination that I would be happy today, regardless of the actions of others.

It took many months of very purposely choosing happiness, not allowing someone else’s actions to dictate my emotions and attitude.  I learned during that time what it was to really lean on my faith – to let go and let God!  Trust me my friends, God still works miracles.  I’ve been on the receiving end a couple of times which I can identify with all certainty, and probably more that I’m not even aware of.  I’ll share those miracles given me in due time.  But let me just reaffirm… Life Is BEAUTIFUL! (And, happiness is a choice!)

LET’S GET INKY!

Stamp sets used:

  • Life Is Beautiful
  • Gather Together

Metal Dies:

  • Gathered Leaves

Paper:

  • Very Vanilla CS – card base 5 1/2″ x 8 1/4″ – fold at 4 1/4″ (Card front will be 1/4″ smaller than card back)
  • Early Espresso CS (mat 2) – 5 1/8″ x 3 3/4″
  • Soft Suede CS (mat 2) – 5″ x 3 5/8″
  • Very Vanilla CS – image panel – 4 7/8″ x 3 1/2″
  • Gilded Autumn DSP – inside edge strip – 1/2″ x 5 1/2″

Ink:

  • Early Espresso
  • Cajun Craze
  • Pumpkin Pie
  • So Saffron
  • Balmy Blue
  • Tuxedo Black Memento

Accessories:

  • Preserved Madrone Tree Bark
  • Linen Thread
  • In Good Taste Elements
  • Light Soft Suede Stampin’ Blends
  • Stampin’ Sponges

Putting It Together:

  1. On the Very Vanilla Image Panel, starting at the top, lightly sponge So Saffron across top and about three-fourths down the panel until it fades out.
  2. Next lightly sponge Balmy Blue ink in sort of an arch across the top.
  3. Stamp the tree trunk image in Early Espresso.  Color in with Light Soft Suede Stampin’ Blend.
  4. Stamp the leaves in Cajun Craze, stamping first below the tree, and then with the second generation ink (stamped off once below the tree), the leaves in the tree.
  5. Repeat with Pumpkin Pie ink, stamping below the tree with fresh (1st generation) ink, and then with second generation in the tree.
  6. Stamp the “Life Is Beautiful” sentiment above the tree.
  7. Stamp the pumpkins from “Gather Together” stamp set on preserved Madrone tree bark, or Cajun Craze CS, using Tuxedo Black Memento Ink.
  8. Crop out the pumpkins using the corresponding die from “Gathered Leaves Dies”.
  9. Adhere pumpkins beside tree trunk.
  10. Lightly sponge Early Espresso ink around edges of image panel.
  11. Wrap Linen Thread around the left edge of the panel x 3, attaching ends to back of image panel.
  12. Using a short piece of the Linen Thread, tie a small bow around the 3 vertical threads.
  13. Use Early Espresso ink to lightly “grunge-up” the wood leaf from In Good Taste Elements.  Use a glue dot to adhere the wooden leaf just below the bow.
  14. Adhere the Early Espresso mat to the card base, followed by the Soft Suede mat.
  15. Adhere a length of tree bark, (or a piece of Cajun Craze cardstock 5 1/2″ x 2 1/2″ – moisten top and bottom edges and carefully tear edges away) to mid-left side of card front.
  16. Adhere image panel over all.
  17. On the inside of the card, adhere the DSP strip along the right edge, even with the card base edge.
  18. Stamp the leaf image from Gather Together in Pumpkin Pie ink.
  19. Stamp the sentiment from Gather Together in Early Espresso, slightly overlapping the bottom of the stamped leaf.

DONE!

Thank you for stopping by my blog today!  Spend some time looking around; I hope you find some inspiration here and may you GET INKY TODAY!

  DSP Sale

OH, OH, OH!!!  Don’t forget that the Stampin’ Up Designer Series Paper is ON SALE through the month of October!!  Now’s the perfect time to stock up on all the gorgeous papers you’ve had your eye on!

Click here for the flier of all the DSP on sale!

Or, simply go to my online store and click on Designer Series Paper Sale!

Janet

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Falling Leaves and Galloping Steeds

Hello Friends!

Dean and I went for a horseback ride yesterday morning and I noticed that our maple trees are already losing their leaves.  Though the calendar doesn’t say so just yet, I think it’s beginning to look a lot like FALL!

In pondering how fast time goes by, The Steve Miller Band popped into my head as I was riding, and I started singing “Time keeps on slippin’, slippin’, slippin’ into the future; I want to fly like an eagle to the sea…” About that time, Jake, my horse, must’ve been listening carefully to the lyrics (or he doesn’t like my singing), as he picked up the pace and suddenly I was feeling that “wind of heaven which blows between a horses ears”!   I reined him back, which he did readily, and then he blew as if to say… FINE, just no more singing!  This reminded me of my son, Adam, when my kids were young.  My daughters liked to sing in the car, and Adam would ask them to stop.  They rarely did upon his request, and finally Adam would be begging me, “Mom, pleeeease make them STOP!”  I guess Jake was either 1) giving me my wish to “fly like an eagle”, or 2) was saying in his own way “pleeease stop singing!”  Either way, I stopped singing and we settled back into a nice easy walk!

Oh how I love my horses!  The following just about sums it up for me and my boys (horses)!

But I digress…

I was speaking of seeing the maple leaves already falling, and that’s what prompted today’s card!   I had just one more Madrone bark leaf leftover from my card a few days ago and wanted to incorporate that.

I had wanted to use bark for the larger leaf also, but I didn’t get glycerin applied to my flattened bark soon enough and the bark was quite brittle, so I started the process described in my last post all over again, this time applying glycerin to the bark as soon as it came out of the water.  It should be ready for working with by tomorrow!

A couple quick notes before we get down to the inky business:

Stampin’ Up updated the Clearance Rack a couple days ago, so be sure to check out the deals there!  I noticed there’s quite a bit of cardstock and embellishments, as well as designer series paper deeply discounted so check it out!

Also, if you’ve been kicking around the idea of joining my team, now is a GREAT time to do so!  Through the month of September, if you sign up to be a demonstrator, you’ll receive not only the regular starter kit ($125 worth of products for $99 – plus all the business supplies and FREE shipping), but you will also receive the “Get & Go Starter Kit” which includes enough cardstock pieces to make 16 cards, a pack of Rhinestone Basic Jewels, the So Much Love stamp set, and the Queen Anne’s Lace stamp set.  This is enough to easily get you set up for your first event if you choose to do so! Though, as I’ve mentioned before, many join simply to be “hobby” demonstrators (getting the discount and being able to pre-order ahead of the public).  That’s what I did initially, and I can promise you I will never push you to do more than you want to do!  So, if you’re interested or have questions, please just click on the “Contact” tab above and I’ll get back to you promptly!

Let’s get INKY!

Materials:

Stamp sets used:

  • Winter Woods (trees)
  • Gather Together (leaf)
  • Life Is Beautiful (sentiment)

Paper:

  • Very Vanilla cardstock
  • In Good Taste DSP (frame)
  • Gilded Autumn (inside)
  • Bumblebee cardstock (large leaf)
  • Early Espresso (bottom border)

Metal Dies:

  • Layered Squares
  • Gathered Leaves
  • Many Mates

Ink:

  • Soft Suede
  • Early Espresso

Accessories:

  • Preserved Madrone bark
  • Embroidered Ribbon
  • Gold thread from Forever Greenery Ribbon Combo

Putting It Together:

    1. Fold the Very Vanilla cardbase in half and stamp the trees from Winter Woods across the front using Soft Suede ink.
    2. Cut the window in the left side of the front using Layering Squares dies.
    3. Using the same size square die that you used to cut the window in the front, and the next larger scalloped square, cut the frame for the window from the In Good Taste DSP.
    4.  Adhere that frame around the window in the front.
    5. Stamp the sentiment at the top of the panel, beside the front window, in Early Espresso ink.
    6. Cut a piece of Embroidered Ribbon long enough to just slightly overlap the ends when wrapped around the front panel through the window.
    7. Adhere ends of ribbon on the front side of the card using Mini Glue Dots.  I adhered the ends on the front side of the card so the inside would have a neat & clean look, and I could hide the ends on the front with embellishments.
    8. Cut a piece of the Gold Thread from the Forever Greenery Ribbon Combo and tie in a bow.
    9. Adhere that and a die-cut leaf over the ends of the ribbon.
    10. Using the metal die from the Many Mates die set, cut the border embellishment from Early Espresso cardstock.
    11. On the inside, adhere a 5 1/4″ x 4″ piece of Gilded Autumn DSP.
    12. Stamp the large leaf image from Gather Together stamp set in Early Espresso ink, onto Bumblebee cardstock.  Crop the image out with the associated die from Gathered Leaves Dies.
    13. Adhere the leaf to the inside of the card, aligning with the window in the front of the card.

 

I chose not to stamp a sentiment on the inside of the card so that I can write a personalized, handwritten note.

DONE!

Until next time, I hope you get a little INKY today!

Janet

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