THE MONTH OF BIRTHDAYS

I've been playing a lot the past several days. Dear hubby's

birthday is on the 19th, a friend of ours in AZ has a birthday on the 24th, and a friend of mine has a birthday on the 20th. On the 25th a grandsons birthday, and I have yet to start his or the friends on the 20th. Whew! I'm tired of just writing how many birthdays there are this month, and that includes mine

on the 21st of this month. I asked my husband wanted he wanted for his birthday, and it basically is the same wish as mine - a long healthy and fun life.

The automobile card was stamped with images from

http://www.heartsintouch.com/, it is a new stamp from Frances Naeve, of Toys for Men, and the ribbon used is some that I purchased

at a convention I've attended in the past. This was an easy card to make as it is all "black and white". I really liked the look of this one, and thank France for the stamp.

The next two cards were made with http://www.ibrakeforstamps.com/ stamps. The golfer on each of these cards is a new stamp from Della Warr's plate 1008.

The first golfer card I used water color paper. The technique of "huffing" was used to create the vivid colors of ink that I used. I first sprayed the water color paper with a "misting" of water, colored the stamps with my water color pens from Wal Mart, then I "huffed" on the stamps to keep the ink damp enough for me to stamp on to the paper. The background stamp is a couple of different stamps from Della of Inkblocks (now I Brake for Stamps). I'm not sure if she still carries these stamps or not, I'll have to ask her sometime. I added Vellum from Pat Dunbar of http://www.papertemptress.com/ , who I might add has luscious papers that you are "tempted" to purchase no more than half a dozen of each kind...LOL. The words "Happy Birthday" was a stamp from See-D's ( http://www.seedstamps.com/ ) The See-D's stamp is a bit of a challenge for me to use as they are quite thin, but I like the effect of them as you're using them. On the reverse side of this stamp is a "sticky" part that clings to your acrylic stamp, but it also has the word(s) printed on the stamp so you know exactly where you are stamping it, and it isn't upside down (don't ask), or whatever.

The second golfer card is from http://www.ibrakeforstamps.com/ but this time I stamped it with Memories Black Dye Ink and used clear embossing powder. I masked the area of the golfer so I could stamp the background first, then I later stamped the golfer. I'm still working on getting a better masking effort down. I then decided to color in a "golf course" for a more realistic look. I think I need more practice on this area too. Oh, well, my dh likes it and I'm only partially satisfied, so I guess I'll keep it...LOL. I then placed the completed image onto some copper card stock that I had, which was then affixed to a white card.

Now it's time for my nap so until we meet again..... Thanks for looking.

HAVE YOUR COFFEE & TIN TOO

Over on Inky Fun Stampers we have a "Mixed Media Challenge Folder" and this month we are suppose to "Alter a Tin". The tin I chose was this International Cafe Instant Sugar Free Cafe tin. After I chose this my muse left me and for the life of me I couldn't remember what I was going to do with it. Today, it finally hit me what I wanted to do with it.

First off I painted a couple of coats of all white Folk Art Acrylic Paint. I then added some ribbon that I had lying around to the

bottom of the painted tin. I then measured the top of the tin and cut a piece of purple card stock and glued it to the top of the plastic lid. It needed "more" ribbon, so I made a fairly large ribbon bow and attached it to the top. The ribbon has purple flowers on it so I happen to remember seeing butterflies around my purple iris garden, so viola' I added butterflies to the top of the ribbon on one rounded corner and another on the backside. The butterflies are from Heart in Touch's new sheet of stamps #126. I stamped the butterflies on some background papers that I had lying around.

This was a lot more fun to make, and now I've filled it with sugar free candy and will give it to the winner of our "diabetic scrabble" game tomorrow (Thursday, May 14, 2009). The Wellness and Diabetic Support Group sponsored by the Five Star Network meets once a month on the 2nd Thursday of the month at 9:30 a.m. in our Senior Center. I have to be there each month as I was appointed to be head of this group. The members are great and very supportive.

Please enjoy, and have a creative week. Leave a comment if you like this or e-mail me at huffpede@yahoo.com should you have questions.

GARDENING & PLAYING

Every time we have a nice day you'll find me out amongst my flowers, then scrambling to find the time to have some playtime. Yesterday was one of those days. Today we planted a small garden, but I had to finish this card I started yesterday.

I needed some "printed paper" so away I went to my stashes. I picked up one of my folders of paper and low and behold there was a partial piece of Vellum with roses on it. Yippee!!!! This is exactly what I needed. I had already stamped and cut out a butterfly using gold embossing powder, but what to do with it? Aha!!! Put these two together and you have a beautiful card (if I may say so). I attached the vellum with vellum tape and you can't see the tape on the front side so I'm a happy stamper. To me it needed a bit more oomph (technical term), so I punched a hold in the bottom right front side. Outlined the hold with a Krylon Gold pen. Okay, now what to do? Since I have a rose stamp, why not stamp a small rose so it can show through to the front. Yep, that's just what I did plus I stamped Happy Mother's Day inside. NOTE: The rose was stamped and colored in with Roseart Washable Super Tip Markers from Wal Mart. I use the "huffing technique to stamp the image. This was a quick & simple card to make, and now to get it into the post office so it lands where it's going on or before Mother's Day...LOL. I hope you enjoy looking at this art of mine and if you care to, please leave me a note. Thanks for looking.

HAD TO SHARE

I am so pleased with some yellow iris that I transplanted and forgot exactly what they looked like. They are so frilly, lacy, and just plain beautiful that I couldn't contain myself by not sharing these photos with you.

Some time today (hopefully) I'll get to play with an Iris stamp I have and try to "copy" what nature gave me. I'll post my results later. Thank you for looking, and its all my pleasure to share with you.

GOT A QUESTION

I've made my mothers day card and for the background I used some of my distressed ink sheets. I think it turned out okay, but it seems a bit bland all done in pinks. What do you think?

ALSO, I've created a "floral" card using a Hearts in Touch stamp "Iris", colored the iris with my Derwent watercolor pencils, and then attached it to a purple card stock, then atop a white card stock, and then to the card itself in purple. It is very "simple" looking, and sometimes simplicity can be very elegant looking, but I think it just needs a bit of something. What would you add?

Thanks for helping me out, and thanks for stopping by.

BEING DISTRESSED

Yesterday I said I would upload a photo of some "distressed" papers that I made. Well I ended up making four of them. Now what to do with them. I have cut each sheet in quarters and so now I have 16 ready made backgrounds. OMG, I think I should have chosen some brighter colors, but a girl has to use what she has in her stash, right? From left to right they were made by layering distress inks (from Ranger products) on my craft sheet, watering the ink with a mister bottle filled with water (what else...LOL), and then the paper laid atop of this ink mixture. (Next time I'll use more water.) The far right sheet I made by crumpling the card stock first, then running my distress ink pad over this. When I got it the way I thought I wanted it, I then ironed it flat. (At least I did remember to put down some papers over my ironing board so the ink wouldn't get ironed into my ironing pad - whew!) To get to this point I had watched Tim Holtz's demoes and his videos were a great help.

The next photo is of a card that I made with one of the distress ink sheets. I don't think it turned out too bad considering I didn't like the background in the first place, so I'm happy how it turned out. I guess you could say that I was too critical of my own work, but being a type A personality, well sometimes it gets the better of me. The stamp is from Hearts in Touch, and the ink is Violet from Colorbox. The ribbon is some ribbon I had on hand and I colored it to match the card. Enjoy, and thanks for stopping by.

A GIFT & I'M A HAPPY STAMPER

Today my husband surprised me with a "gift" he made. I showed him a photo of this heat gun stand and asked if he could make one similar to it for me. He didn't say much at the time, more or less grunted like most husband's do when us wives give them a "hint" that they would like something...LOL He is a master carpenter (retired), so I knew he was up to the task, but when would it get done is another thing. Well today I received my "gift" all painted and ready to use. In the photo it looks as if the heat gun is tilted, which I guess it does look that way, but it does stand perfectly straight up and down if I'm not pulling on the cord. Duh!!! This tool is a good thing (as Martha Stewart would say) as it frees ups my hands. I have experimented with it by making some distress card stock sheets and it really is a beautiful and doable gift. Thank you dear husband.

Later I will show you my distress card stock that I made. I went hog wild and made 4 distress sheets following Tim Holtzs' technique. You can view the technique here: http://www.timholtz.com/vid_distressink.htm Enjoy and thanks for stopping by.