September 15th, 2011 ~ Giving Thanks ~

Thanks for coming to get some card inspiration! This week’s theme is Giving Thanks.  It is an appropriate theme, with Thanksgiving right around the corner for us Canadians, but also because there is so much to be thankful for.  One of my favorite things is to be able to make a special card to give thanks with. Enjoy the card I made!

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Theme: Giving Thanks
Sketch:

(Oops! if you notice I have the sketch upside down…. don’t worry, its not an error on my part )
Techniques, colors, etc:

• Natural elements…. ribbon… embossing… microwave flower drying.

Card size: 5in. x 7in.

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First, lets assemble some of the items I chose for my card:

1. Cuttlebug with embossing folders
• Floral Fantasy
• Swiss Dots
• Embossing Borders: Just My Type
2. Quilling Paper in soft natural tones
3. Paperbillities “Wine Country” I’m going to use the green’s and cream for the card & card base
4. Microwave Flower Press (I’m so thankful my sister gave it to me for my birthday a few years ago!)
5. Not pictured, but I used Friskars “corrugator”.

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Cut, emboss, and tape as you go…. here’s what I have so far:

All there is left to do is to dry some flowers from my garden to make the “bouquet” , and to insert the sentiment on top (I will hand write or stamp this, as I wasn’t thinking far enough ahead to use the computer to do it )
Now the fun part…. out to the garden!
Here are some of the flowers I picked… small violets and the top bit of a speedwell.

Make sure to trim the back of the flowers if necessary, to help them to lay flat between the layers of paper towel and felt in the microwave flower press.

Microwave in 30 second intervals, checking on how much more you need to dry them.  It really doesn’t take long!  These violets have “dried” in under 3 minutes in my microwave, and your microwave may be even quicker than mine!  Oh, another note, dry similar sized items at one time.  I’m going to try doing the speedwell separately… I have never dried speedwell before, so I hope it works! If you “over dry” you will lose color. It’s a balancing act. If you want to make sure the card will last forever, then opt to use silk or paper flowers instead.
When the flowers are dried, arrange and paste on the cream oval.  Stamp or write your sentiment on the top of the card.


Another thank you for dropping by! Make sure to visit the Card a Day Blog for more inspiration!

Back to the old routine

This past week has marked changes for me at work. I’ve gone from a regular 10am – 6pm shift back to my old routine (shiftwork). There are good and bad sides to this. This week I am working graveyard shift (to some, that may be a bad thing). I’m enjoying being back doing different things… Change is good!
Now the truth of this post… I’m testing the scheduling aspect of posting on Blogspot.com.  I’m involved with posting on Card A Day Blog, and want to be able to schedule my posts for when I’m scheduled to be at work. I think it will work like a charm!
My next post is a thank you card, but after that, on the weekend, I will post some more pictures of things happening where I live
Take care!
Shelley

What a Hoot!

I’m so excited to be a designer for the Card a Day Blog! This is a place to go daily to be inspired for making cards! This is also my first blog entry of my card making craft. Enjoy!
The theme this week is OWLS.  I've got to tell you, that I have never designed anything with owls in it, so I'm right on my creative edge.  I wanted to make a thank you card that reflected that I gave a hoot! Everything in this card except the insert and card base is recycled bits of handcrafted art paper I bought in a baggie from a paper shop I visited. 
I started with a sketch of an owl I wanted to make, and assembled the papers I wanted to use.

Basically, the sketch is a pattern. I layered two colors of paper, black and brown, and started cutting. First the basic shape, then the next inside shape on another set of layered paper, and continue until you have the owl pieces cut. Then simply paste together. Below is what the owls looked like before I pasted them together.

I cut the card base out of a nice heavy burnt orange colored cardstock. The dimensions are 6 inches high by 11 1/4 inch wide.  I used my Score Pal to score it at the 5 1/4 inch mark.  The folded card’s back is 6 inches square, leaving a 3/4 inch space to make my card title.  I basically designed an insert to paste into the inside of the card:

Assemble the card pieces together.

Tape the card insert to the inside of the card, so the phrase shows when the card is closed.

Glue or tape the remaining pieces on the front of the card. Two owls, and lattice, and a flower that was inside a piece of paper.  I also drew the “eyes” irises on the owls as a finishing touch.

Voila!

Enjoy! It really was a hoot making this card too!

What a weekend!

It has been years since I’ve done any amount of canning in “one go”. Well, I managed to put up 60 lbs of peaches, 20 lbs of apricots, 20 lbs of plums, and 60 lbs of tomatoes over the past three days! I was going to take a picture of all of my canning, but I really don’t think the table would hold it all! Things I made:

• Tomato Bouillon (in quarts)
• Crushed Tomatoes (in pints)
• Diced Tomatoes (in pints)
• Bruschetta in a jar (1/2 pints)
• Peach Lemonade Concentrate
• Sliced Peaches
• Hoppin’ Habanero Peach Jam
• Apricots in syrup (won’t do them again… too ripe to do properly)
• Apricot jam
• Strawberry Jam
• Blackberry Jelly
• Pickled onions

Over the next week, I plan to make

• Bread & Butter Peppers (sweet & hot mix)
• Pickled Beets
• Fennel/onion relish
• Harvard Beets
• Cans of Borscht
• Dried peppers (green)

Things I have to start doing soon:
Canning soup for quick lunches!

I’m so glad I’ve got support and ideas from one of the best food preservation groups out there!
Food Preservation Drying Canning And More

I do promise to show you some of the stuff I did this weekend – soon! But until then, I’ve gotta get busy doing something special!!!! I’ll be posting a project in just a couple of days! Stay tuned!