Finally On A Roll.........

Hi there everyone......hope you had a great "hump day". My day was good. Finally got to go to my friends house to make some cards...it has been awhile since I was there....mostly because her road was being redone....so it was hard to get into her apartment complex. So we just called off making cards for a couple of months. And, of course I was recouping from my hernia surgery in September. It's been a long hard haul......but we made it through.

These following cards are the ones I made at home....they actually are the backgrounds made from shaving cream and alcohol inks. Here is the post. You can check out what they looked like before embellishing the backgrounds with stamps, gems, iridescent spray and embossed leaves.

I love the way they turned out....my favorite card is of course the red card. I let the shaving cream backgrounds sit around for awhile....my idea finally came to me to stamp them with my Tim Holtz stamps, actually he was doing a tutorial using these stamps (if you can see them in these pics.) all over one of his backgrounds, I thought, how cool is that. Think I will try that. I sprayed the card with some iridescent spray, then layered the embossed leaves on each card. (that idea came from another card I saw on a card from the internet.)

Again.....the top and bottom pictures are in different colors.....I like that each card is different and unique.

In this picture are all the cards together.

This next picture is the first card we made today. We colored in the leaves and pumpkins and then used some glitter on the leaves....hard to see the glitter, but it really turned out nice.

Now this card was really putsey....it took a while to make as each little piece of the penguins had to be pieced together. We decided  this card would have to sell for $6 in order to pay for all the time involved and so much work to it.

This was a fun and easy card....I like the leaves, they are a die cut...they almost look like a real leaf, and they colored up really nice.

This was my favorite card....so very pretty. The music stamp comes from "My Daily Bread" and is embossed on a blue card. Then we added the die cuts to embellish the card with flowers, pearls, blue branches and a white branch.

Well, I shall pause here....I am making some matzo soup....and I am sure the matzo is ready to be dropped into the chicken soup. Be back in a little bit. Here is where I got the recipe. Okay....this is definitely very delicious!!! JP will really like it and one bowl will not be enough for him. I predict this soup will not last long in the pot!!!

Time to close this post....I need to get downstairs....as long as I am on roll.....best not waste the time and get some cards done whilst I am rolling...lol!!!

Have a good day tomorrow and keep looking up! Cheers ~ Louise

Some New Supplies

Hi there everyone. Well....it's a new month and with it comes some new supplies to get me started up again. I have been in an unmotivated, un-inspirational mood for the last couple of months. The thought of being creative, just was not in my heart or mind.

In my previous post (9/28) I showed the shaving cream technique....which was lots of fun. Made quite a few samples and different colors. Since then I have watched a few more tutorials on using alcohol inks, distress inks and Gelatos....now I have a few more techniques to try out. Hopefully I can keep up with all my ideas. Guess the inspiration is there....hopefully motivation is right behind.

In the picture above, you can see I was impressed with a lot of Tim Holtz's products. Added a few more alcohol inks, distress inks and some new stamps. Another technique that impressed me was using the Gelatos....have heard about them and seen a few cards made with Gelatos and watched a few techniques using the colors. So that should be a fun thing to play with. Sounds like I will be doing lots of backgrounds using stamps.

I sure do like the way Tim Holtz puts a card together, every card is a work of art. I need to be more freer in my applications of these different mediums. I just typed in Tim Holtz in www.YouTube.com and up comes lots of tutorial in using his products.

I used to be a great fan of his....but some how got lost along the way....guess I will make my way back. Funny how we go through phases and different seasons in our life and we make a full circle,  back to where we were. Funny, how life can be. What goes around comes around.

Well, I think I shall close this post for tonight and head downstairs and see what I can come up with. You all have a great evening and a wonderful October 2nd.....and the weekend is here again.....where did this week go????
Cheers ~ Louise

Finally.....Did Some Stampin'

Hi there everyone. Well, FINALLY.....I did some stampin' and marbling. After many moons, finally got downstairs and did something creative. It took me awhile to even get started, don't know why, maybe something in my brain is not firing, who knows what happens to the brain when you are put to sleep for a colonoscopy and hernia surgery, back to back. My motivation has been slow to fire up.....but tonight.....the juices were flowing!!!!

Here is the card I made tonight, kind of a fast one using the "Shaving Cream and ink" technique.  It was really lots of fun, once I got the hang of it. I think next time I may use alcohol inks....might be less messy.

Here's what my left hand looked like after playing with the shaving cream and inks.

Here is a sampling of the different papers. Made quite a few as you can see. I was able to use the shaving cream on quite a few pieces of card stock and got quite a few different colors.

Here's what my right hand looked like after playing the shaving cream and inks.....pretty messy?!?!?!? Oh but lots of fun!!!

What you do is, cover a paper plate with shaving cream then dab the shaving cream with dots of colored inks. Then swirl the cream with a stick to marble it. Lay the card stock on top the shaving cream and press down. Then pull the card stock off the cream. Lay it down on paper towel for a few minutes, then take paper towel and wipe off the cream from the card stock and you will get these lovely marbled pieces of card stock. I added different colors and more shaving cream to get the different affects......but as you can see.....my hands took a beating. Perhaps next time I will use rubber gloves.

Some of the tutorials I watched on YouTube said, alcohol inks would work, acrylic paints and food coloring.....I shall try those also, just to see which is less mess on the hands. This is an old technique, as I found it in a 2002 "Stamp It!" magazine.

I was going to make an apple pie tonight, but decided not to, as I was afraid the pie doe and apples would take on the colors that were on my hands. So I shall wait a day or so, just so the colors will fade from my hands. LOL.

I did manage to make that potato cheese soup this morning....oh yum, was it ever good. Guess I better write down the recipe....it was a keeper.

Well, it is getting late and I need to get some sleep.....I think I wore myself out tonight....did way too much. PLUS I straightened my stamping area and found some mouse droppings.....uge better get out the mouse traps!!!!

Have a good day and keep looking up!!! Cheers ~ Louise

What's on the Agenda This Week????

Hi there everyone, hope you enjoyed your day. Today was a little chilly, in the 50's and cloudy with a little drizzle....the leaves are falling quickly. Burrrrr it's feeling like cold weather is upon us today. I'm thinking I should start bringing in my ceramic animals soon, so they don't freeze their petunias. Hahahaha!!

Roasting some vegies in the oven right now. This is an old picture, but you get my drift. On the cookie sheet tonight are green peppers, garlic, carrots, zucchini, broccoli and a few tomatoes seasonings are olive oil, Italian seasoning and salt and pepper. I will roast the vegies till done, pour them into a pot of canned tomatoes and cook till tender and soft.

Next step will be to blend with my immersible blender. I might add a little wine to the pot and the rest of the spinach I have in the frig. The finished product will look like this below picture. I will be cooking up some ravioli for JP tonight, along with a salad and garlic bread. If there is any sauce left, I might freeze some and then use some for a pizza.  I noticed on www.mybizzykitchen.com she entered a contest, 1st place is $10,000. "Pizza My Way" Pizza contest by Sebastiani Vineyards.....all you do is make the sauce and crust, take a picture of the pizza and yourself, tell how you made the pizza and enter....Humm...may just try it...."one may never know unless that one tries"

Well, I just tested some roasted vegies and sprinkled a little Parmesan cheese on the vegies. Not bad, not bad at all.

The end of this week.....I think Chinese Dumplings or Potstickers will be on the agenda (hope I can get some in the freezer). I already have the napa cabbage in the fridge....hopefully the cabbage will last that long. If not...there is always some other dish I can make, like cabbage and tomatoes, that's always good.

Festival Foods has a sale on Chicken breasts and Beef Burgundy roasts this week. I found a really easy recipe, called "2-Ingredient Slow Cooker BBQ Chicken" for the crock pot. Chicken breast and BBQ sauce (homemade or bought) cook for 4 hours. The chicken will pull apart....okay I am in for that...anything easy. The beef burgundy roast sounds good too, using this same technique.

For a change in bread, I might try making Pita Bread. Never made Pita bread, but I suspect it will go well with the BBQ Chicken and roast beef.

What else is on the agenda for this week? Make a few cards of course. I found a really neat technique using alcohol inks and glossy cardstock. Should be fun to try it. I have a month to put together 50-75 cards for Hospice....so that should be on my agenda for the month of October.

Ordered some new stamps from Stampin-up. So I will be looking forward to receiving them in the mail. Also ordered a kit to make my own stamp....have been wanting to do something like that, so yes, I will be looking forward to receiving that in the mail also.

Time to close this blog...golly...only one more day left in September.....where oh where is 2014 going too??? Have a great day and keep looking up!!!! Cheers - Louise

♥♥♥Beautiful Day Today♥♥♥

I love this time of the year......and to make it even better the weather is gorgeous today..........almost heavenly!!! But alas I have to get ready to do a few jobs today, going out and about in the traffic...........sometimes I like to just stay home, can find lots to do and then there is always going into my little studio to make a few cards, which is what I did last night..........here's a picture. This was a "unique technique" using alcohol inks on one side of a piece of vellum then stamped the image of a lighthouse on the other side of the vellum, embossed with black and gold embossing powder. Layered vellum on white cardstock and punched two holes on the side and ran ribbon through the picture. Again layering on black cardstock then on the card, embellishing with gold stickers. Turned out really nice, although it is hard to see in this picture. I want to make some more cards like this, but I need to fine thicker vellum for this project, thin vellum does not work well. Curls up.

I found this wonderful cookbook at Savers (a second hand store)the other day....Graham Kerr~The Galloping Gourmet~1970 vintage cookbook for 99cents. Has some wonderful recipes in it. There were a couple I thought I might try.........like maybe the Beef Stroganov, London Broil and Mushroom Salad sounded good some of the other recipes were very complicated. But then guess that would be the fun of making it.

Did you get a chance to see "Julia and Julie" do go, it was really fun to watch. Heard yesterday that Julia Child's cookbook "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" is the #1 best seller because of the movie. Alas, I am on a waiting list at the library to get her cookbook. Julia cooked with alot of Butter and Cream........yikes........lots of calories for sure. I would like to try her beef stew........of course that was not the "French" word for it...........on this tv program they said they figured one serving of this wonderful, succulent stew had 993 calories in ONE serving. Now I don't know if that was a cup or two cups or what.......but Julia used real bacon chunks, butter, cream and of course meat and vegies AND MUSHROOMS!!!!! I love mushrooms, and they are good for you too!!!

Well, I think I better close this blog for today, need to get ready for work, only have two jobs today, but they are in opposite directions. Dollar General in Kaukauna is a round trip of 16 miles, so I will be gone most of the day, if I get ready now, and get out of the house by 1:30, I could be home by 6:00pm or so.

Well, you have a great day and keep looking up!!!

Louise