Cats are Just Little People - a story

Unexpected Pairing  ska The Cat Distribution System

An explanation below

 On a hot day in August, my son was sitting in his usual chair  on the patio, when a small calico cat appeared out of nowhere. She was small and obviously malnourished and was hardly more than skin and bones. We knew the cat was female because most if not all calico cats are female.  She obviously preferred my son ignoring me all together.  Meowing and purring loudly, she  walked back and forth rubbing her body against his legs.  My son, not sure whether the cat was feral or not was hesitant to touch her, instead talked gently to her. She responded to that and purred even louder,

Over the next several days, she appeared whenever my son sat in his chair. Slowly a genuine affection developed between human and the animal. As the weeks passed by, it became apparent that she was pregnant. A decision was made to start feeding her. Up to this point we had not fed her because we did not know if she belonged to anyone. But now the situation changed and mom and babies needed more nourishment.

As her pregnancy advanced we started looking for someone to adopt her so she would have a safe place to give birth. The animal shelters were all full and could not take her.  We already had 2  indoor cats who would not take kindly to bringing in a stray cat. 

After canvasing numerous friends and neighbours, we found someone who loved animals as much as we did. And just in time....

Six beautiful little kittens arrived a week after she was adopted. 

My son called what happened "The Cat Distribution System" 

The cat distribution system is a playful internet meme and concept that suggests cats or kittens appear in people's lives seemingly at random, as if guided by some unseen force or mechanism.  It's a lighthearted way to explain the serendipitous nature of cats finding their way into homes and hearts, often when they are least expected.  Essentially it's the idea that cats choose their humans, rather than the other way around. (source the internet)

Making this card brought back all those memories.

About the card.....

The Very Vanilla card base was layered with a  piece of DSP die cut with a Deckled Rectangles Die. In the center of that was a smaller piece of Pecan Pie card stock also die cut with a smaller  Deckled Rectangles Die.  This piece was embossed with the 3D Plaster Painting Embossing Folder.

On this embossed piece were adhered two  2 1/8" circles die cut using the Stylish Shaped Circle Die. The lower circle was adhered to the card stock using dimensionals. On this circle was added the calico cat. The sentiment was added to the upper circle.  Both were adhered with dimensionals.

The cat...

The wood mounted PSX stamp is one of my oldies.  Today the image was stamped with Black Memento ink and coloured with Stampin' Blends using the following colours:  Basic Gray, Smokey Slat, Cajun Craze, Early Expresso, Daffodil Delight,  I added a slight amount of Balmy Blue and Granny Apple Green to the eyes. Because there was no die, I fussy cut it out.  When finished some Glossy Accent was added to the eyes and nose.

The sentiment... from Crop Circles and was stamped with Pecan Pie ink. I fussy cut around the sentiment, then adhered it to some Pecan Pie card stock and fussy cut around that leaving a border.

Some Pecan Pie embellishments added to the upper circle finished the card.

Supplies Used:

Stamp:  Cat (PXS wood mount), Sentiment - Crop Circles

Inks:  Black Memento, Pecan Pie, Stampin' Blends (Pecan Pie, Basic Gray, Smokey Slate, Early Espresso, Cajun Craze, Daffodil Delight plus Balmy Blue and Garden Green for the eyes)

Papers:  Very Vanilla, Basic White, Pecan Pie, DSP (unknown SU)

Accessories:  Deckled Rectangle dies, Stylish Shaped Dies, Glossy Accents, Plaster Painting 3D Embossing Folder, Dimensionals.

I will be sharing this card with the following:

NBUS #77 anything Goes

Allsorts #829 Animals

A Perfect Time to Craft #8 Anything

The Paper Funday #79 - 4 Legged Friend

Crazy Chicken It;s Exhausting to be Fabulous

 Sometimes you just have to make a card that produces a smile.  Crazy Chicken does that. This particular chicken feels good about herself, strutting around and cackling "It's exhausting being this Fabulous"

The chicken was coloured with the following Stampin' Blends: Daffodil Delight, Balmy Blue, Mango Melody, Pumpkin Pie, Bermuda Bay, and die cut. A fence from the same stamp was coloured with Crumb Cake Stampin' Blends die cut .  Both were added to a Crumb Cake background die cut with a Marianna Craftables die. The middle of this background was lightly sponged with Old Olive ink. A vine, die cut with a Spellbinder die, was added on the right side.

This completed Crumb cake die cut was added to the completed card front using dimensionals.

The crumb cake base is layered with Shaded Spruce card stock followed by a DSP (no name)

I"m sharing this card with:

613 Avenue Create

A Perfect Time to Craft

A Place to Start

All Sorts Challenge

NBUS

Card a winner at Creative Creases Challenges #106

 The card I recently submitted to Challenge 106 at Creative Creases was selected as one of the top 3.

Thankful Hydrangea card for the challenge with Freshly Made Sketches #697

 This Thank  you card was made for the sketch challenge with Freshly Made Sketches #697 and features a Hydrangea in a lovely doily-like rectangle frame.

The card base is an A2 Tahitian Tide card stock. It is layered with a piece of Basic white card stock and then a rectangle doily -like frame.

In the center is a die cut of a Hydrangea flower, the flowers of which are coloured with Stampin Blends, using Boho Blue and Starry Sky and the leaves with Granny Apple Green and Daffodil Delight. The flower was stamped and clear embossed from the stamp set "Thankful Garden". Tiny blue pearls were adhered to the center of each flower.

The sentiment is stamped with Black Versafine ink and clear embossed before being die cut with a Stylish die cut. The die cut is adhered half to the background and half to the fancy frame.

Supplies Used:

Stamp:  Thankful Garden

Inks:  Black Versafine, Stampin' Blends (Boho Blue, Starry Sky, Balmy Blue, Granny Apple Green, Daffodil Delight.

Papers:  Tahitian Tide, Basic White, 

Accessories:  Thankful Garden dies, Stitched Rectangle Frame, Stylish Shapes dies, Small blue beads for center of flowers, dimensionals. Clear embossing powder

Twinchies for a die swap

 Im participating in a swap for a die group. This month the theme is Twinchies. 

Twinchies are embellishments made using 2” squares or  2” circles. Each twinchie has 2 or more layers , uses a technique, and includes 1or more embellishments .

These are the twinchies I made.

A Floral Circle Acetate Birthday Card for Addicted to Stamps & More #498

 The challenge at Addicted to Stamping & More #498 is to make a birthday card.  I don't have any birthdays this month but I always like to have a few made up so I'm not making a card at the last minute.

The card I made is one I've been wanting to make for a while after I saw a few of them on Pinterest. Here is my version:

The finished card is 4 1/4 by 5 1/2" therefore fits into a standard A2 envelope.

To make the card I started with a 5 1/2" square piece of heavy (110 lb) Basic White cardstock.  This I scored in half and folded it. When I opened it, I centered a 3 1/2" circle die over the score line and die cut the circle. The bottom front was embossed with the layered floral embossing folder. This I set aside while I worked on the rest of the card

A 3 1/2" and a 3" circle die were die cut together to form a frame, I cut 2 of them . I also used the 3 1/2" circle die to cut a piece of acetate.  This I adhered the two circle frames.

Next I decorated the circle frame.  I used Basic White and gold foil to punch flowers using the small Daisy punch as well as a Flower Builder Punch.  Each of the petals were sponged with gold ink using Gold Delicana ink and a dauber. Minimal shaping of the flowers was done.

A Birthday sentiment was embossed with gold embossing powder and die cut using a die from Art Gallery die collection. A small bow made with glitter ribbon completed the circle.

When finished, the decorated circle was added to the card front only- matching the outline of the circle die cut earlier.

Supplies Used:

Stamp:  Art Gallery

Inks:  Golden Glitz Delicata, Versamark

Papers:  Basic White (110 lb for base; 85 for flowers), Gold foil

Accessories:  Art Gallery dies, Daisy punch, Flower Builder punch, Layering Floral Embossing Folder, Gold embossing powder, 1/4" white glitter ribbon

A Music Pop Up Card for Creative Creases #105

 This 6 by 6" pop up card was made for a 19 year old male who absolutely loved music. 

The card base is Balmy Blue. Above is the Basic white front cover. There I added stamping and die cuts, including a birthday sentiment to introduce the theme.

Open the card and the pop ups are revealed. The guitar and musical notes are die cuts, but the images of the presents are fussy cut from birthday DSP..  The Basic White layer adhered to the inside front cover is embossed with the Music Embossing folder. For the rest of the inside I used various musical die cuts and fussy cut images.

Crazy Chicken I will rise… Freshly made Sketches #696

 This crazy chicken is perfect for the sketch challenge with Freshly Made Sketches #696 and the sentiment is how I feel (sometimes) getting up in the morning. This image is from a Stamp set with coordinating dies which i call "Crazy Chicken".

A "Crazy Chicken" (my word) was coloured with Stampin' Blends (Daffodil Delight, Mango Melody, Pumpkin Pie, Real Red, Granny Apply Green,) die cut with the coordinating die and then nounted on a 3 by 2 1/2" piece of DSP scrap I found in my left over bin.

The sentiment was also stamped and clear embossed, then die cut and added beside the chicken.

After rounding the corners of the DSP it was added to  a 2 by 4 1/4 " piece of Berry Burst card stock, the corners of which were also rounded.

This unit was added to a 4 by 5 1/4" piece of Basic White card stock and then to a 4 1/4 by 5 1/2" card base.

Some Berry Burst embellishments finish the card.

Supplies Used:

Stamp:  Crazy Chicken

Inks:  Black Versafine, Stampin' Blends

Papers:  Basic White, Berry Burst, DSP (unknown)

Accessories:  Clear embossing powder, dimensionals, Crazy Chicken dies, corner rounder punch, embelllishments.

A Thank you card featuring Zinnias for Try a Sketch on tuesday #675

 For the sketch challenge with Try a Sketch on Tuesday #675, I featured the Simply Zinnia flower.

For this A2 card, the card base is Berry Burst card stock, layered with the Flowering Zinnias DSP. For the DSP layer, I used both the front and the back of one 4 by 5 1/4" piece. First I cut one piece in half diagonally from corner to corner.  Each of these two pieces were cut in half diagonally again creating 4 triangular pieces.  These were adhered to the card front- the pattern pieces on the top and bottom, and the reverse side on both side)

The Zinnia flowers were stamped with Black Versafine ink and embossed with clear embossing powder.  Each flower was then coloured with the following Stampin' Blends: (Flower 1: Pale Papaya, Daffodil Delight, Melon Mambo, Berry Burst. Flower 2 and 3; Daffodil Delight, Highland Heather, Berry Burst, Rich Razzellberry.  The leaves and stems : Old Olive, Granny Apple Green). After die cutting it with the coordinating die, it was added to the middle of the  card front using dimensionals.

The sentiment was stamped with Versa Fine and embossed with clear embossing powder.  After die cutting it with its coordinating die, it was added to rectangular Berry Burst stitched die cut and added to the base of the flower.

Supplies Used:

Stamp:  Simply Zinnia

Inks:  Black Versafine, Stampin' Blends

Papers:  Berry Burst, Basic white, Flowering Zinnias DSP,

Accessories:  Simply Zinnias dies, rectangular stitched dies, clear embossing powder, dimensionals.

A Mini Slimline floral birthday card for the Beautiful Blossoms challenge #31

 Anyone who knows me knows that I love flowers.  So I thought I would join in the challenge at Beautiful Blossom Anything Goes with the Mood Board #31

I actually made 2 cards and am undecided as to which card to submit.  So I am submitting both.  

The first card features a Gerbera Daisy. 

 The daisy stamp, from Frog's Whiskers, was stamped with Black Memento ink and embossed with clear embossing powder.

Using the Colours from the mood board I used as many of these colours on the flowers: 

Daffodil Delight, Sweet Sorbet, Rich Razzelberry, Poppy Parade Old Olive (for the leaves. When finished, I added Glossy Accents to the flowers.

The completed image had no die so I fussy cut it, and added it to Basic White layer which is embossed with a radiating embossing folder (?name).  This was added to the mini slimline card base card front using dimensionals. The card base is a mini slimline card (3 1/4 by 6")

The second card resembled the mood board a bit more . The images of several Hibiscus flowers was a digi stamp.  The flowers were coloured using Daffodil Delight, Berry burst, Real Red, Rich Razzelberry, with Old Olive for the leaves.  The image was fussy cut and adhered first to a white layering  diorama  die cut and then a Boho blue die cut.

All were added to a  Boho Blue card base which was layered some Balmy blue DSP.

 

Seas the Day - Card Made using Fault Line technique

 Tearing paper will get you lots of funny looks, maybe a shocked expression or two.  Tearing paper, however, can be very satisfying, and result in .

First of all, here is my card.  

This technique involves tearing two pieces of paper at the same time and then layering them together to create a vault line or a visual separation

I used the video tutorial by Lynn Dunn . In her video, she explains how to use this tearing technique 3 different ways.  

Supplies:

1. Piece of cardstock 41/4 by 8 1/2” scored at 5 1/2

2. Two pieces of DSP 

   a) pattern 1:  4 1/4 by 2 3/4”

   b) pattern 2:   4 1/4 by 5 1/4”

Thinking of You - another Kintsugi card

 Below is another example of a card make using the Japanese Kintsugi technique.

A Get Well Card using the Paper Kintsugi Technique

 I used a tutorial from Splitcoast stampers to use paper to create a Kintsugi effect.  Kintsugi is t he Japanese art of repairing btoken pottery by mending the tracks with gold, silver, or platinum. The piece is thought to be more beautiful because it had been broken.

Instead of pottery, I use DSP that I have deliberately torn in 3 directions.  Versamark ink is applied to some (not all) of the torn edges and heat embossed with gold embossing powder. The card is then glued back together onto a slightly larger piece of Basic White card stock. matching the torn edges which are now guilded with gold.  See below on the technique done on paper.

This is added to a slightly larger piece of gold card stock which is adhered to a Night of Navy card base. 

A sentiment is embossed with gold embossing powder onto Backlmy Blue card stock and die cut with a coordinating die, This is added to a Night of Navy stitched rectangular die with notched corners. These 2 layers are added to the card front using dimensionals. A  narrow strip of gold card stock becomes the faux ribbon.

Supplies Used:

Stamp:  unknown

Inks:  Versamark

Papers:  Night of Navy, Balmy Blue, gold card stock, Basic White, Country Inn DSP

Accessories:  Gold embossing powder, Layering stitched rectangle dies with notched corners, Dimensionals, Brushed metallic adhesive dots