Adios leetle Birdie

It's Photo Op time! A couple of days ago, my mom and hubby were trimming the hedges out front when KAPOW...mom whacked this poor little guy with her glass door. He was knocked out for a minute or so, then just sat there, dazed and discombobulated, for a few more minutes. After about 20 minutes, he just flew off into the big oak tree across the street--it's much safer there, little one.

For all you budding ornithologists, this is a Mourning Warbler. He's teeny weeny--only about 3-4 inches long (you can sorta tell scale by the size of the grout in comparison). He's got his fall colors on--olive green on the top, butter yellow breast. Apparently he's migrating (as he normally lives WAY northeast...like Canada northeast). Their migratory path does reach down here though...so, I like to think he was on his way to Cancun for the winter where he will lounge on the beach and sip margaritas. Adios, leetle birdie. Watch out for those crazy Gringas with the big glass doors. Hope he sends a postcard while he's there (though I won't hold my breath).

Occupational Hazard

So, I was perusing the Craft Your Passion site and saw they are hosting a challenge to make an "occupational" themed card. Well, I couldn't resist. So, what profession did I choose? Well, it was a toss-up between mortician and nurse. Since I don't have any mortician stamps, I went with nurse. Ok, ok, ok...so I lied...when it comes to crafting a profession, there is only ONE choice for me. After all, I was a pediatric nurse for a quarter of a century.

Nursing it is. I took one look at this hilarious stamp from Bugaboo and knew I had to feature her. Her name is Stella. She's old, she's cranky, she has grey hair with purple highlights, and her boobs live in another zip code.

I altered the stamp a bit (removed the hospital gown she was holding) and added the cute little mummy. I made the card look all sweet and innocent and pretty...that is until you read it. Hee hee hee. Now, I would NEVER say/do anything like what she did to her patient...I'd be thinking it, but I wouldn't have the where-with-all to carry it out.

Stella, gotta love her curmudgeon-ness.

 

I'd like to enter this card in the following challenges:

Craft Your Passion - Occupational Hazards

Ingredients:

Digi images - Bugaboo Stamps, Phillip Martin

Paper flowers - Prima

colored pencils -Prismacolor

Nestability die "Labels 10" - Spellbinders

Loopy edge punch - Martha Stewart

patterned paper (sorry they were scraps, don't know mfg.)

cardstock

buttons

foam spacers

Gettin' Krafty

My bestee, Jodi, recently turned me on to the unique look/beauty of colored pencils on kraft paper. Kraft paper--you know the stuff--think paper lunch bags. It's brown, it's bland, some would even call it...mundane. But, it's not just for sack lunches anymore. Something magical happens when you lay down colored pencil on top of it. It transmogrifies, like a butterfly emerging from its cocoon, to bloom with the rich look of pastels--without the smeary mess. Simply put, kraft paper brings colored pencils to life. And, since colored pencils are my coloring agent of choice...I just knew this technique was destined to be a match made in papercrafting heaven.

For this card, I used kraft-colored cardstock (since I was fresh out of lunch bags). I know this would work GREAT using big brown-paper shopping bags. Next time I go to the grocery store and they ask me "Paper or plastic"...I'm gettin' paper. I made this card as a belated birthday card for my Aunt Sherry. She is a hard-core rock 'n' roller--has been as long as I can remember. She plays the electric bass. So when I found this stamp by KennyK, I knew it belonged on a card for her.

Originally, I was going to paper tole it. But it just wasn't flying. So I broke down and just colored the whole stamp...PAINSTAKINGLY...with my Prismacolor pencils. I love my Prismas. And, on kraft paper...they are TOTALLY rockin'!!! Kraft paper, who knew??

I would like to enter this card in the following challenges:

• Christine Traversa: Getting back to crafting
• Craft Your Passion: Very 1st Blog Hop 
• Kenny K's Krafty Girlz: #61 Your All-Time Favorite

Ingredients: 

Digital Stamp - KennyK

Inverted scallop circle dies - Spellbinders

Monogram poker chip - MaisyMo

Colored Pencils - Prismacolor

Floral embossing plate - Sizzix

chalk

Scalloped edge punch - Martha Stewart

Adhesive gems -K&Co

Ribbon (the white holey stuff is actually what's left over from making sequins)

foam spacers

cardstock

Spaah Day

For our birthdays (mine and my sister's), my mom took us all to the day spa for manis and pedis. Such decadence. Such indulgence. Such a girly-girl thing to do. And YES, I arranged this section of their wall-o-polish into rainbow order--this should NOT surprise you. Though, the manicurists gave me strange looks as they chatted to each other in Vietnamese. But, I digress.

Where was I? Oh yeah....Aaaah, manis and pedis. They're mahvelous.

We walked in and were led to these big, comfy massage chairs with jacuzzi pedicure tubs attached. So, I'm wondering to myself..."how can I get one of these things for my studio"? It would sort of be like those "man cave" chairs I've seen where guys take an easy chair and insert a mini fridge and built-in toilet...except this would be SOoooooo much more refined, and practical. It could prolong my crafting sessions by...DAYS, maybe even WEEKS. I like the massage chair/jacuzzi foot combo thing, but pedis take a long time and after awhile, I did start to feel like a lump of bread dough.

I love choosing my color of polish. They had dozens, if not hundreds, to choose from. I picked a magenta polish with interference blue tones. Heidi picked a sort of coralish scarlet and mom...mom picked Kermit-the-frog green.

That is SO unlike my mom. Her signature nail color is usually some shade or incarnation of beige. Fawn, mocha frost, sand, potato, mink, nude, almond kiss, taupe, you know...beige. So for her to get day-glow frog put on her toes is SO...unexpected.

Here are our pretty toes: 

 And here are our lovely hands:

No matter how hard I try, I cannot picture my husband getting this done. I've decided this truly is an activity that requires one to possess two X chromosomes in order to enjoy.

The day after

So yeah, yesterday was a landmark birthday for me. I was 29...again. hahahaha. Ok, seriously. Yesterday I hit the big 5-0. The half-century mark. HALF CENTURY??? ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME? When did this happen? Where did that last 20 years of my life go??? I swear it was only yesterday when I was turning 30. *sigh*. I know it's just a "number". I realize that it's not the miles in your life, it's the life in your miles. I am aware that one is only as old as one feels. But, for some reason, this birthday is not setting well with me. AT ALL.

It's not that I LOOK old. Heck, I look somewhere in my early 30s. I don't have wrinkles. I don't have grey hair (thanks to Loreal). My boobs haven't reached my belly button and no age spots have started to crop up. But it has NOTHING to do with "looks".

I guess what it is, is that I'm feeling my mortality. I'm at a point in my life where I am painfully aware that there are things I will never do. This sorta bums me out. I will never have children, which by default means I won't have grandchildren. I won't climb mountains. I won't run a marathon. I won't sing for Disney. I won't have a 401k to fall back on later. I won't run away and join the high-wire act in the circus.

These are things that plague me.They're not regrets...just painful realizations.

My family and friends (except for my sister Heidi, my friend Vicki and my aunt Sherry) are giving me pep-talks and either telling me "how grateful I should be" or to just "put on my big girl panties and deal with it". Heidi, Vicki and Sherry get it. I don't know how to explain this pervading sense of melancholy that has burrowed its way under my skin...but I know those 3 understand. Don't get me wrong...I AM grateful. I DO REALIZE how lucky and blessed I am. That is not the issue. The issue is that I FEEL sort of, well...miserable. I know this will pass. But, for now, I'm bummin'.

I'm just sort of a sad puppy.

 

Oops, gotta run, phone is ringing. Great, it's AARP. *sigh*

It's birthday time!

There are SO MANY September birthdays...my sister, my aunt, my grandfather, my grandmother, my friends Jen, Terry and Beth-Ann...oh, and mine. I can do the math. I counted back the months, and came to the conclusion that we were all products of holiday reverie; Christmas or New Year's...too much holiday "cheer".

So, this is the card I made for my sister. Its base image is a digital stamp by Melonheadz (thank you, Shar!). The banner stamp is from Bombshell Stamps. I used my trusty Prismacolor pencils and mineral spirits to color them, then I did the old Paper-Tole technique. I'm determined to get good at Paper Toling. I still haven't found a dimensional glue I like...but I have ideas. The "pearls" around the edge are actually dimensional fabric paint applied in little blops. I used a Spellbinders scalloped edge frame with organza ribbon woven through it to frame the image, and finished it all off with paper flowers by Prima and black buttons in their centers (sorry Jodi, I did NOT thread them with floss).

Here is a closeup of the Paper Tole'd image

Supplies:
Blank Card
Scalloped frame die (Spellbinders)
Patterned Papers (MME is the orange one, the others are unknown --hey, I used scraps)
Paper flowers (Prima)
Dimensional fabric paint (Tulip)
Organza Ribbon (Michaels)
Stamps (Melonheadz, Bombshell Stamps)
Colored Pencils (Prismacolor)
E600 glue
Black felt pen (Zig)
White gel pen (Sakura)
Odorless Mineral Spirits
buttons
transparency

Tole-tastic!

My bestee's daughter just had a birthday. It's hard to believe she's 15 (the daughter...not my bestee). This is one of my fave Kenny K digi stamps and it looks JUST like her, so of course, I HAD to use it. And, the "Urban Street Elements" stamps by Make "it" Crafty are PERFECTAMUNDO with it. Since I still am a bit Copicphobic (it's a word, I swear) I like to use my Prismacolor pencils and Odorless Mineral spirits for coloring. 

It's difficult to see, but this card is SUPER dimensional. I used the Paper Tole technique (3-D decoupage). Paper Toling is an old technique that has been marvelously revived for card making. My favorite Paper Tole artist is Mariska. She does AMAZING things with this technique. I'm just a novice Paper-Toler...but I'm learning.

I'd like to go ahead and enter this in the Kenny K's Krafty Girlz #61 challenge, since it's all about our favorite Kenny K stamps

Here are all the individual pieces it took to make this card. I used multiple copies of the same image. I started by making the wall background. After I figured out how many layers it took to create the girl and trash can, I colored the appropriate pieces, cut them out, layered them, and glued them together with "dimensional" glue (a thick silicon glue like E600 works) so as to maintain space between each layer. I colored the "under" layers black to add more shadow/dimension. It takes, time, impeccable scissor skills, good eyesight, patience and tweezers to do this...but boy is it FUN!!!