Welcome Everyone!

Remember to "click" on all pictures if you'd like to see them a little closer.

Wednesday, January 22, 2020

My Favourite Colour is Sunset

Hi everyone,
I was very happy when my new Wild Whisper paper collections arrived last week, and the first one that I was drawn to was "Strength of the Season".  The colours are beautiful and there are so many life affirming quotes... I think it's a really stunning collection!
I had a photo filed away of a beautiful Bohemian Waxwing, that I wanted to use  on a layout and the bonus sheet in the collection was the perfect backdrop for it.  This beautiful photo was taken by Lilly Agnes.  She shares many of her stunning photos on the Alberta Birds facebook page, and she kindly gave me permission to use it.
I had filed away this photo because I knew I wanted to use it on a layout that was inspired by the More Than Words challenge this month.  The inspiration word is HIGHLIGHT, and the creative words are to use SUNSET COLOURS.
For me, a big highlight in my life is seeing all the birds and wildlife that come through the wild space behind our backyard.  We live on the edge of a bird sanctuary and it is wonderful to see such an amazing variety of birds and animals up close.  The Waxwings are a favorite of mine, they come to enjoy the saskatoons and Schubert cherries that I have growing in my yard.
If you're interested in seeing some of the animals that I have had visiting, I will share photos at the end of my post.
                                                                                                                                                            I chose to do a mixed media layout for this one, so I started by stenciling a background with Nuvo Glacier Paste in Haute Red, using Finnabair's Swirly Florals stencil. The two pieces of chipboard were embossed with Distress Ink "Aged Mahogany" embossing power.
                                                                                                                                                        For the paper stack behind the bird, I used pieces cut from Pam Bray's "Nature's Bliss" collection. 
                                                                                                                                                         All edges of the paper stack as well as the bird photo were inked with black ink.
                                                                                                                                                          In the photo below, you can see that I embellished the photo with fussy cut flowers (yup... there was lots of cutting) that were popped up here and there for extra dimension.  The fussy cut flowers are from a Hungry JPeg graphics collection called Autumn Vibes by a group of Russian artists called Little Magic Box.  One of the flair buttons from "Strenth of the Season" added extra shine and "flair" to the flower cluster.  The chipboard frame around the bird was embossed with Stampendous "Shabby pink" embossing powder and then I added Copper glass glitter to some of the berries.  I also add the glass glitter and some "ManGo" mini prills here and there on the lattice trellis.  Around the bottom of the flower cluster, I added some pearlized mica for extra shine, but it comes across as quite flat in the photo.  It looks much better in real life!
                                                                                                                                                       The two little birds below, were part of the bottom chipboard piece.  I cut them off and tucked them up at the top. This piece of chipboard was embossed with Stampendous "Shabby Pink" embossing powder.  (True to my promise to myself, I am digging into some old stash and using it!)
                                                                                                                                                       The other bits of embellishing that I did, was glue on some "Pink Passion Pearls" by Prima, and add sequins from another new Wild Whisper collection called "Where to Next".  Lastly I did a very fine splashing of watered down gesso over the whole page.  (Except for the bird, I covered him with a piece of scrap paper while I was flicking gesso.)
                                                                                                                                                       The title of the page, was cut from "The Strength of the Season" card pack.  I should also mention that the adhesive I used for everything was Art Ingredients "Heavy Body Gel."  I love this stuff when working on a page like this.  It's flexible but also really strong.
                                                                                                                                                       You still have until the end of the month, January 31st, to enter the More Than Words Main Challenge.  Check it out!  We have some great prizes up for grabs!!
Thank you for stopping by to see what I was up to today.  
Don't forget to check out the Wild Whisper store to see all the new collections.  I'm sure that you will agree with me that they are amazing!  There's even a few Kit Collections still available at 20% off... so run, don't walk!
If you DO go shopping, don't forget to use my coupon code (DTLINDA) for 10% off!!
Happy creating with all your new goodies, and share your projects with us on Wild Whisper's Community facebook page!  

A few of the beautiful creatures that have passed through the yard:

This flock of Pelicans entertained us for weeks in the late summer months.  They are such large birds and very fun to watch.


We frequently have coyotes come up to the fence, but upon this particular afternoon he decided to lay down and sun himself.


This pheasant has been particularly fun.  He showed up in the fall last year.  I discovered him when I heard tapping on my craft room window.


And here he is peeking in at me in my basement craftroom.  He still comes by every now and then... just checking up on things I guess!


Deer are another animal that we see frequently.  This photo was taken on a snowy day in May.


This is the same day... if you look carefully, you will see three of them.  Two were curled up and having a nap.  This little herd delighted us with a set of twins later in the year.


A little later in the year, this guy came by to raid the neighbour's bird feeders.


A handsome big owl that decided to rest in our Schubert Chokecherry tree for awhile.  We kept a close watch on our King Charles Cavalier Spaniel while he was hanging around!

We're also frequently entertained by the black, as well as grey, squirrels that run along the fence and high up into the trees teasing our dogs.  

The yard is also always full of sparrows, chickadees, bluejays, magpies, crows, house finches, goldfinches, red-headed blackbirds, yellow-headed blackbirds, ducks of all types, warblers, partridges, robins, wrens, hummingbirds, flickers, nuthatches, orioles... I'm sure there are many others that I have missed.  Last, but not least, my favorite birds, the Canada Geese who come back in the cold, winter month of March, and sit out on the frozen ice patiently waiting for it to melt.  They honk and carry on, setting their boundaries for their little patch of territory, and they make me so happy because I know when they arrive the winter will soon be over and spring will be here!




Thursday, January 16, 2020

MTW January 2020 Mini Challenge - WOW

Today is the first mini challenge of the year over at the More Than Words Challenge blog. You are asked to create a project using the word WOW on it. We have some great sponsors and several prizes up for grabs, so be sure to check us out here.  

I decided I would make a Valentine's card for the challenge.


The floral heart that you can see behind the owl, is a chipboard piece from Dusty Attic called "Sweet Hearts".  I painted it with an old container of pink "Smooch" that I had on hand.  I'm trying to use up some of these old products to free up some room.  The colour tones worked well on this project and the container is now empty!!




Do stop by and give the challenge a try!


Linda


Friday, January 10, 2020

Growing in Unity - Day 5

Happy Day to you!

For my last Growing in Unity day, and with Valentine's Day looming in a month, I chose to make a Valentine card.

These two cute little birds were calling my name!  They can be found in a Kit of the Month from May, 2017 called "Free Your Dreams".  The frame die that I used for this card is from Avery Elle and is called Dotted Frame.

I used a combination of techniques to colour the birds:  starting by watercolouring with Distress Inks, and doing some finishing up touches with Copics.  I heat embossed them with white embossing powder, which gives them a soft look but it meant I really had to work at colouring the eyes, because I lost some of the details of the stamp with the puffy embossing powder.  Don't you love how he's whispering in her ear???  I'm not sure though, if I like the bow I chose for this card... so let's take a poll... should I remove it and find maybe a burlap bow... or keep it to balance the pink hearts?  Help me out friends!  ;)




When I was creating the distress ink paper for this card, the other day, I also did some up pinks and reds.  This is what I cut the hearts out of.  The hearts are from a die set called "Lovely Moments" by Studio Light.


To create the inside, I used my inked up watercolour paper, and this sweet sentiment from the April, 2017 Kit of the Month "Be My Bird".



So that brings my Growing in Unity week to an end.  Thank you so much for all of your kind, fun, and friendly comments.  They really made me smile!  

One final reminder... if you comment on my blog posts for this "Growing in Unity" week, your name will be entered in a draw for one of TWO grab bags full of 25 Unity stamps that are waiting to go to a happy home!  

I will be drawing for the prizes this weekend.  I will wait until Sunday to give those last minute commenters a chance to get their names in for the draw.  Good luck everyone!

Linda




Thursday, January 9, 2020

Growing in Unity - Day 4

Hello!

You couldn't do a Growing in Unity week without colouring an Angie Girl... right??


Aside from the Angie Girls, the thing that I love most about Unity Stamps are the inspiring sentiments that come in the stamp sets.  Both of these stamps come from another Kit of the Month called "Beauty Comes From Being Yourself".


I went for a bit of a shabbier look on this card and distressed all the edges of the mats.


The mats for the Angie Girl card was created from scraps of paper leftover from a Wild Whisper collection called "Floral".  I picked the colours for her coat, etc, from this particular piece of paper in the set:



Thanks for stopping by again and sharing this fun week of "Unity Stamp love" with me!

Please remember to leave a comment in order to have your name entered into a draw at the end of the week.  Two lucky winners will each be receiving grab bags of 25 fabulous Unity Stamps!

ALSO... did you know it's Angela's birthday and a new sale in her honour has started over at Unity Stamp Co.!  I've fallen in love with a couple of the newbies already!  Check it out here.


Happy shopping!
Linda



Wednesday, January 8, 2020

Growing in Unity - Day 3

Well!  Today was a lot of fun!  Welcome back to day #3 in my Growing with Unity week!


I did some playing with distress inks today, and that always makes for a good time!


I used the technique where you rub the ink pads on your mat, spray the mat with water, and then dip and smoosh your watercolour paper around.  I dried with my heat gun between the different layers of smooshing.  Tim Holtz demonstrates the technique at 6:49 in this video.

Inks used were Peacock Feathers and Salty Ocean.  If you can't read the notes on the photos below... this card is 4.25"x5.5" and the first mat is 4"x5" and mainly coloured with Peacock Feathers with a little Salty Ocean.  The middle photo shows how I glued a piece of white foam down to add dimension to the card.  In the third photo, I glued down the embossed darker piece of watercolour paper which had more Salty Ocean than Peacock Feathers.  This mat is 3.5"x4.5".
 I heat embossed the darker mat with white embossing powder.  The stamp set I used came from a Kit of the Month from February, 2017 called "Unexpected Places".  Such a pretty design!




All that was left to do was add the birthday sentiment from the same kit, and some bling!  It doesn't show well in the photo, but I tore the one end of the strip the birthday sentiment is on... just to distress it a little.


Thanks for stopping by!  If you leave a comment below, your name will go into a draw at the end of the week.  Two lucky winners will each be taking home a grab bag full of 25 Unity stamps!

Hope to see you back for Day 4 tomorrow!

Linda 



Monday, January 6, 2020

Growing in Unity - Day 2

Hi everyone!

Thanks for coming back for Day 2 of my Growing in Unity week!

Today, I have a Sympathy card to share with you.


The front of this card was made using Unity stamp "Be the Best".  I started by cutting a card base out of 110# white cardstock.  I used a die set by Papertrey Ink called Scalloped A2 Die Collection to do this.  I watercoloured the front edges of the card base using Distress Ink "Peacock Feathers".


After watercolouring the edges, I cut a 4"x5" square out of  a  piece of heart patterned paper from Wild Whisper's "Forever and Always" collection.  Over top of this I glued a white gate that I cut out of 110# cardstock using another Papertrey Ink die called "Garden Gate".

Next I cut an oval and heat embossed the dragonfly using Ranger's superfine White embossing powder.  Then I watercoloured the dragonfly using the Distress Ink "Peacock Feathers" ink again.


The final thing I did to the front of the card, was heat emboss a strip of vellum using one of the sentiments included in the "Be the Best" stamp set.  I glued it at the ends and covered the glue with the white pearls.

The inside was made by cutting another rectangle from the Wild Whisper paper, and embossing another piece of vellum, this time using Unity stamp set "Girl Truly".


Thanks again for stopping by.

Be sure and comment below in order to have your name entered in a draw at the end of the week.  Two lucky winners will each be taking home a grab bag of 25 stamps!

Happy Creating
Linda


Growing in Unity - Day 1

Hi everyone,

*Edited to add a new photo.

This is an exciting week for me as I am one of the "Growing in Unity" girls and I will be showing you projects using Unity Stamps each day this week!


It will be an exciting week for YOU as well, because every time you comment at the bottom of my blog posts, your name will go in a random draw at the end of the week.  Two lucky winners will each receive a  grab bag of 25 random stamps!

It can be hard sometimes to find the comment box, so I've created an image showing you to click where it says "No comments".  Once you do, a box will pop up with a place to write your comment. You will find the "No comments" at the very bottom of my post.
For my first card, I chose to use a stamp from an old Kit of the Month, called "Midnight Kisses".  You can find this stamp set here.


A sad confession... I was creating my card at midnight last night and had a malfunction with my heat gun.  I had a bit of a panic because there was no time to create another card.  After debating what to do, I decided to go ahead and show my card as is without the embossing powder melted, and promise to do better tomorrow.  If you've ever had this happen to you and were able to set the powder without the heat gun PLEASE let me know in the comments how you did it!!  


I was able to finish embossing this card today and thought I'd leave the unembossed one in for comparison (my lighting was a little different and the shot is closer).


I love this girl blowing her happy wishes and love toward the recipient of the card!  You can tell she's celebrating and having fun!  She's quite a large stamp, as this card is 6" x 6".

The paper I chose to use for the card are from a collection done by Wild Whisper Designs, called "Just Because".  The embellishments are from my stash.

That's it for today!  See you tomorrow with my next Unity project!!

Linda