Baby, It's Cold Outside

I am not much into Christmas anymore. Long story but the greed turned me off so bad, I just said no more. I have not put up a tree in 13 years and it's just as well as my animals have no clue to decorum. One cat actually tried to fry himself by biting a wire one year. He was never right in the head again. 

I put this card together over a year ago. It is not stamped but instead it is a vintage image printed on card stock. I had originally wanted to take a class for this type of card but when the weather got bad and I could not drive, I asked the proprietor of the stamp shop to save me a kit. She did but there were many items missing one of which was the class instructions. So I did it my way.

Here is a close up of the icy glitter that resembles snowflakes on the little girl. I always wanted a muff when I was younger. Not real fur, however and I think that is all that was sold at Smith Bridgeman's in downtown Flint when I was shopping with my gramma. We always looked at the cute dresses and shoes but somehow I ended up with jammies and socks.  I am going to visit the lone kiddie shop left in the area this weekend to see if I can find a perfect Christmas dress for grandkidlet Avanelle. I used to shop at Laurie's in Grand Blanc for my own kids for special occasions. I don't think I could afford to clothe a teenager these days with all the designer labels that are must haves . Me, I look for BOGO deals.

With Age Comes Wisdom (At Least I Am Hoping)

This is another oldie but goodie. I originally made a graduation card from this with a sprig of fresh rosemary tucked in the ribbon at the bottom.  It smelled great but sorta dried out. Still smelled good but sorta fell apart. Guess I wasn't so wise after all.

These are Great Impression stamps from about two years ago?  I took a punch and cut the punchie in half to give it a "quote" balloon look for the stamped phrase. The owls were colored with Prismacolor pencils and Gamsol. Some of the other pieces were from my Iris cart but I didn't like the original base card which was the dark blue bits that I ended up cutting up. So I swapped out a textured yellow piece.  I did NOT intentionally make this U of M colors. Everyone knows I bleed green and white and Tom Izzo is my hero. 

Special Note

A card from a long time ago. I wanted to reshoot it but I sent it away, I think. Oh well.

The images are from Great Impression and were part of a class at Jane's/Sandee's.  Since  I can't take the classes, they often save class kits for me. Whatever works. I never make the cards the way the class instructor says anyway.

This card is a teacher card.  At least that is what I think.

One Crazy Dog

If my dog Jackson were a rubber stamp, this would be it. Right down to the wide eyed google eyeball, he is a configuration of crazy and nuts. 

 

Here, a close up.

I believe this stamp is from Inkadinkado.

woof.

.................

Sweet

Old Basic Grey cardstocks, a rub on and some dollar acrylic stickers.

Close up of stickers/rub on combo. The sweet crystals were also a dollar find, however it said sweetheart. I cut it up. Someday the heart will appear.

XOXO

While everyone else is gearing up for Christmas, I am going backwards. I present you with a love card. Supposedly, I can't work current. Is there a place in the working world that pays dinero that will let me do that? Too bad, but I ain't gonna do it any different.  I already have laid out items for 4th of July and something really cool for sailors/ship people. Do they have a holiday or not? Oh, and I am working on the graduation card I owe from last May. 

When I found this plain canvas to print with Inkjet in the clearance aisle at Joann's, I fell in love with the idea of shabby chic and how to use up scraps and dollar store finds to make something very unique. The last two years at the local stamp shows there have been a couple of companies that sell vintage photos or old images on CD or DVD and I have gobbled them up. There are also many free vintage images online and if you google free vintage clip art, you will have an all day feast!

An example of a dollar store find is this acrylic circle with XOXO. The entire sheet held at least a dozen circles with various words or images. I bought it several years ago and the color just matched this card so well.

Multiple layers make up this card from the printed image of an old valentine (all die cut using Spellbinders) , the green and black paper embossed and sanded (this is black with green interior) , two layers of die cut and embossed textured card stock in matching colors to the image and then three layers of designer card stock punched and off set. You would think this card was heavy but it's not. Each layer on top is pop-dotted and the lower layers just rest on each other. The base card is pitch black and textured.

I tied the top with organza ribbon and applied the acrylic circle as I didn't like the knot in the ribbon.  I noticed it was upside down, but I too am off kilter, so it works. Can you find the other mess up on the card? I double dog dare ya!  All items are from the infamous Iris cart.

No Ifs Butts or Ands.....

Testing the Networked Blog Feed.

Get a whiff of speed.

ETA: I saw these on a shelf at an antique/collectible show.  I about fell over laughing and snorting. Just me being weird but sheep smelling a pig butt just cracks me up.

Doggie Dad

Well over a year ago I made THIS card for Father's Day. I also made the one below, but it got lost in my draft file because I wanted to re-shoot the photograph.  Ya know what? It ain't gonna happen. So here it is.

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8888888888888888

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!

Roadside Flower

I fussy cut the stamped edge to enhance it against the brown cardstock. Layered flower stamp is from Great Impressions. An easy idea to use up scraps .

The sun was going down when I took this so its a bit grey looking. Hopefully when my new macro gets here (I finally saved up enough points!), I won't run into this problem anymore.

ETA   the cardstock with the fussy cut stamped swirls is dark chocolate brown. It matches the dots in the ribbon.

Song For Linda

I never met Linda. We lived hundreds of miles apart and even tho I plotted to get out East, I never made it. We "met" after I spotted a letter to the Editor in    Comic Buyers Guide back in  1986. I responded to her letter as back then, many "fan type" publications gave actual addresses when printing a letter.  We found we were both big fans of DC Comics, and shared a love of the Green Lantern Corps/Justice League, especially the character  Guy Gardener . I mentioned to her that my perfect condition issue of GL #59 (first series) was half the price she paid for her copy in the same condition. This was before people began to  SLAB their comics.  We were fans of the comics to be read, not to be hermetically sealed and then sold for upgraded pricing.

Linda had promised me years ago she would have a place for me to bunk or would be my tour guide if I got out that way-she knew of my "bucket list" item to run a few laps thru Central Park.   It might have happened if not for me getting sick and losing contact with her and all my fellow comic book friends.  10 years later-give or take a few months, I am reading a comic editorial blog and come across Mike Gold's byline. Hmmm, I wondered.

So to make a long story shorter, I found Linda on Facebook. Still the same Linda only now long married  to Mike for about 17-18 years.I was so pleased when she originally shared with me that she had met a special guy, who also loved comics as much as she did. In fact it was his career! Her daughter had grown up as had mine. She still lived in the same place, so I could not understand why my hand written letters never got to her. I still have every letter she wrote to me-including the envelopes. Understand that we didn't have emails back in 1986 and I didn't have a computer until 1995.  But it was like we never had that break. She still loved jazz and was consumed by Bix and old radio. I never wavered from my wanting to trip back to the late 1890's to live (I would give up a lot for that).

We had the same political leanings, were both dealing with insomnia , worried about the economy and health care reform, and had a farm. Yes, that stupid FarmVille on Facebook. The last night I had her as part of my life, I sent her some silly thing for the farm, made a post of which she gave it thumbs up for a like and  told her good night and knew she would be there the next evening to farm, plow, or plant some virtual crop. Only she wasn't. Sometime in the middle of the night, she died. Only 60. Only too too young. Only leaving broken hearts behind.

I made this card for her and was getting ready to post it ( I am so slow and weirded out by my PO at times) so she could give it to her beloved Mike. It was exactly the style she would have loved. Very 1930's with an image printed on fabric of two stars of cinema that enthralled those from the era but kept a population occupied with fluff stories as the Depression took its toll on hearts and souls. We were two who think we belonged in other eras.

I found this  piano piece the other night and it made me think of  her . I hope you will listen to it and then remember to let others know you treasure them as I did her.

I have finally reached a point where I know she won't be logging on to Facebook, but I still wish she were. Facebook keeps reminding me to poke her or get in touch with her. I don't farm anymore but left our farms intact just as they were in late May of this past spring. It's been hard to say the least, having lost my mom, sister and someone I would have picked for a sister all within a year. I never got to tell her I have a grand child on the way. She would have been delighted especially with the due date being  near Halloween.

Remember not to procrastinate if you have something you want to do or say to someone. I never got the chance this time. So wherever Linda is these days, hugs. This one is for you.