I Lost It!!!!! Can't Find It...

Had a few hiccups on line this week and lost my original blog with this name - hope this one stays in tact. 

As I try to figure what I lost, I thought maybe you might like to visit a few of my newest favorite sites for creative inspiration and information. You may be asked to "join" these groups but there is no obligation involved in joining. There is just so much advice and technique ideas that my head is really spinning. 

https://www.facebook.com/pg/craftingforalmosteveryone/posts/?ref=page_internal  Sandy Parker (fantastic, independent lady).

https://www.facebook.com/groups/768959146575859/about/  Perpetual Christmas Card Club - this will keep you inspired so as not to be doing last minute Christmas Cards.

http://www.flonzcraft.com/index.php?route=common/home  Interesting site – from stamps and stickers to unique coloring cards and books. Worth taking a look see!

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1476856552403005/  Unbranded Dies and Inspiration. This has become a rather controversial subject with some people. There is just so much available besides the top brand name products and this group talks about their finds - the quality, prices and suggestions. I found it interesting.

Well, I need to get back to trying to find my lost sites. Hope your day is going better. 

Till another day...

My Last Green Man…

Have taken a break from my cards and decided to complete my Green Man collection. I found these characters on line more than a year ago. For most of them, there was no artist autograph. I wish I knew who did these drawings so I could credit them.

Updated Info: This drawing was
 done by Lori Taylor in 2010

This Owl-Green Man was completed with only Prismacolor Pencils. Even-though the original drawing was highly shaded, I did a lot of extra shading and enjoyed blending so many colors into this project. Working on the face left a few questions as to how to hint at the cheek and jaw line without covering the "growth" that was drawn in. 

If you get a chance, take a "card-break," and pickup something of interest to color. Color it your way. Have a creative few hours, relax and have fun... 

These are my other guys which now completes my year long project. 

 This one was also with Prismacolor Pencils.  (See the Jan. 20th post.)









These two were completed with Chameleon Pens. I love working in both medias. Hope you will give them a go sometime.


Well, till next time, I thank you for stopping by and sharing my weird passion for something just a little different.

May God Bless You and Yours...

Looking Ahead…

Thank you for looking in today. I hope your winter is going well and you are staying warm. I’m still reorganizing and experimenting (maybe I should call it playing) with some of my other forms of “mischief!”

Being a card crafter, I wanted get a head start for upcoming holidays. Easter is not really that far off (April the First) and I would like to do something special for a few of our friends and family.

I had seen a great idea using two of my recently purchased unbranded dies and decided to go with that look.  It would be nice to acknowledge the original designer but I can not find the lady’s name (sorry.)

The flowers are created from a light pink foam (Foamiran) and die cut from Heartfelt Creations’ Vintage Floret. I used Prills from USArtQuest for the flower centers.

The leaves are from some of my stock. (Not sure which company.)

The white paper is from Elizabeth Craft which is a real pleasure to work with. The layered is a soft pink pearlescent.

Hoping you will stop by here again.

Till next time,

May God Bless You and Yours.

The Green Man –

The Green Man motif has many variations. Found in many cultures from many ages around the world, the Green Man is often related to natural vegetative deities. It is primarily interpreted as a symbol of rebirth, representing the cycle of growth each spring. 

Some speculate that the mythology of the Green Man developed independently in the traditions of separate ancient cultures and evolved into the wide variety of examples found throughout history.

I just finished this "Green Man" using Prismacolor Pencils. The original drawing is by C Kester from 2010 that I found on Pinterest. After nearly 4 days of enjoyment as well as experimenting with blending and shading, I finally finished!

This will be part of a grouping of 4 different Green Man drawings that we will mount in my crafting room. One more will be completed with Prismacolors pencils while the other two (featured here) have been completed using the fantastic alcohol based Chameleon Pens. I totally enjoy the versatility of these inks.

Will be starting my last Green Man next week. Wish I had an idea who the artist were for these as I would love to credit them for their imaginative renderings. If you know, please contact me. Also, any suggestions for finishing this Owl Guardian?

As always, I am so pleased that you stopped by today. Hope you enjoyed viewing my non-card-making, very different creative projects. 

There are so many ways of finding exciting ideas and trends for making our cards interesting and fun. What are your alternate creative activities...painting, coloring, photography or another exciting form where you can get away from reality for a few hours?  

Aviary

Sometimes we see something while surfing the web that just lingers in our minds. Maybe a unique pattern, color combination, verse…but it just lingers in your mind. That was the case here.

My mother is in a Senior Memory Care location about two thousand miles from here. Traveling is difficult for me so we rarely get to visit. Sadly, she does not seem to remember me when I call so I like to send her flowers and also some of my handmade cards. When I saw this design, I knew that would be a beautiful way to say I Love and Miss You, Mom.

This beautiful embossed design (Aviary) is an Ann Griffin design and was released through Cuttlebug.  I used a golden white pearlescent cardstock for the impression, trimmed it to fit my card base. The Lily is a Whimsy Stamps die, cut from the same beautiful pearl paper. The paper is rather stiff so when scoring the veins, I was sure the petals would lift and hold its shape.

Sometimes we are hesitant to create a one color-on-color project, but results can be so astonishing. You may want to give it go sometime.

I really appreciate you stopping by today and hope you will let me know what you think of the very simple and clean project.

So, till later…May God Bless You and Yours.

A New Trend…Foam Flowers

One of the newest and most exciting trends hitting the U.S. today is to create realistic flowers using a protect called “Foamiran” or Foam Paper.

Yes, I said foam!  We are all familiar with the standard hobby-craft foam that we in the States have used for many years, but this is a extra thin, 0.6mm (about 0.02”) thick and in many beautiful colors and finishes. It is really extremely versatile. To my surprise, a good portion of the world has had this product for several years.  For more information, just go to Facebook and YouTube to check it out either foam flowers or foamiran – be prepared to be wowed!

Last summer, I discovered this product and at that time, had to order it from Ireland. Then in early fall I discovered that Whimsy Stamps in Florida carried a full line of colors and supplies. It is just so amazing – you can die cut as many as 6-7 layers of foam at one cutting. You can make more flowers from just that one cutting with your dies. And the prices are about equal to that of quality papers. 

From the videos that I have watched, many of the more professional creators draw out their petal and leaf patterns then hand cut for more size variety. 

Because of my physical situation, I elected to use an electric die cutter to cut my flowers. I can only imagine what I would do with scissors! May not look like anything recognizable. 

For my creations, I used many fantastic flower dies from Whimsy Stamps and several of those from Heartfelt Creations and Susan's Garden. There are just so many branded and unbranded flower dies on the market that selecting what you want is a challenge.

Again, thank you for stopping by today and would like to invite you to visit again soon. 

May God Bless you and yours.