Card Gallery | Catered Crop

There is no gilding of setting sun or glamour of poetry
to light up the ferocious and endless toil of the farmers’ wives.
~ Hamlin Garland

Have you seen the cover of The Oprah Magazine this month? Oprah’s got a new farm in Maui. She says: “It’s been a real aha moment to discover how delightful it is to create something fresh and fulfilling with you own two hands.”

Shoot, Oprah should have spent a week with my Grandma Black. And my Aunt Calita. And my Mom’s Cousin Helen Luth.

By the time I came along Grandma had leased the acres out on her farm and she had just a few chickens. I was so little, I only barely remember the few times she let me come with her to gather eggs in the barn.

What I do remember most fondly is how Grandma still got up at dawn and went to bed at dusk long after the farm retired. Her strong hands were always, always busy, usually doing something for us: darning the holes in our socks, making our favorite pie, sewing dresses for my dolls . . .

I know Grandma never heard of an “aha moment.” But, if all farmers’ wives are like my Grandma, they are the most selfless people on God’s green Earth.

Tips & Techniques

I borrowed the wagon from the Cart Full of Friends stamp set and filled it with raffia and the little chick from this new Pure Innocence Farmer’s Girl stamp set.
I used Michele’s gorgeous pointilism technique to color the chicken.
I used the new Chicken Wire Die-namic as a cover for this card using a technique I showed you here.

Here are the Copic markers I used and the rest of the ingredients.

InLinkz.com

Finished size: 4″ x 5-1/4″. Other ingredients: Simple Stores Summer Fresh 6″ x 6″ paper pad, Paper Source natural raffia ribbon, DMC Embroidery Floss. Stampin’ Up! pastels. Memento Dye Ink, Curly Raffia.

The My Favorite Things design team is back to give you another look at the fabulous May release with the Release Rewind! You can find all of the new release products HERE in the My Favorite Things Boutique.

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May 12, 2013 | Filed Under: Card Gallery, My Favorite Things, Pure Innocence, Release Rewind | 6 Comments

I don’t know if we each have a destiny,
or if we’re all just floating around accidental-like on a breeze.
But I . . . I think maybe it’s both. ~Forrest Gump

The first thing that came to my nutty brain when I saw this new Feathers and Arrows Die-namic was the feather Forrest Gump used to mark his place in his favorite book, Curious George.

In the film Forrest is torn between Lieutenant Dan’s conviction that your destiny is preordained and his mother’s faith that we make our own destiny.

So, when this month’s release gave us both a feather and some sentiments about destiny in the new Life’s Direction stamp set . . . well, it was . . . you know . . . Destiny.

Tips & Techniques

I used the new Chicken Wire Die-namic as a cover for this card. You can see it better from the side.

The Chicken Wire Die-namic is 4″ wide by 5-1/4″ long.

I cut a piece of cardstock 4″ wide by 5-3/8″.
I scored and folded t at 5-1/4″ so there was just a 1/8″ overhang.

I attached the Chicken Wire die cut piece to this small 1/8″ overhang and then embellished it.

Here are all the ingredients.

InLinkz.com

Finished size: 4″ by 5-1/4″. Additional ingredients: Simple Stories Summer Fresh 6″ x 6″ Paper Pad, Echo Park Sweet Girl Flower Garden 12″ paper.

The teasing is over. All the new projects the My Favorite Things team has been revealing this week are available. You can see what the other designers are playing with today at the My Favorite Things blog, and you can purchase all the newest product at the Brand Spankin’ New Boutique. I hope you’ve enjoyed all my little projects as much as I’ve had fun making them. Have fun shopping.

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May 7, 2013 | Filed Under: Card Gallery, My Favorite Things, Teaser Time | 10 Comments

Life moves pretty fast.
If you don’t stop to look around once in a while you could miss it.
~From Ferris Bueller’s Day Off

I think Ferris Bueller would like the sentiments from this new stamp set, Chalkboard Greetings. He’s a Carpe Diem, Sieze the Day kind of guy.

If you’ve never watched the move, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, you must seize the moment Right Now. Here’s the 1986 trailer.

Danke schön, right?!

Tips & Techniques

I created this black panel with a little adjustment to the chalkboard technique.

If you want try the chalkboard technique with just a hint of color, here’s the trick.

Supplies

You’ll need:

white pigment (craft) ink,
white embossing powder,
embossing buddy,
heat gun,
sponge daubers,
chalks,
dark cardstock, and a
paper towel.

Step by Step

Wipe your cardstock down with your embossing buddy. Stamp the sentiment with white pigment ink, coat with white embossing powder and heat set. (Sometimes it sets more evenly if you point the heat gun from the back side of the paper.) Set it aside until it has a chance to cool down and is no longer sticky.
Selectively stamp the sentiment again. (I just stamped the words Day and Good) with the white pigment ink. Shift the design just slightly to the right for a shadow effect.
Twist a sponge dauber in the chalk and then dab it over the offset, stamped image quickly, before it dries. Keep adding chalk to the wet ink until you think you have enough color.
Use your paper towel to wipe off any access chalk. It will not remove the chalk that was applied onto the wet pigment ink.
To add some chalk “dust”. Use another paper towel and blend some more of the white pigment ink onto the background — around the sentiments or in the corners.

Almost makes you miss the classroom, doesn’t it?

It’s another fun day of teasers at the My Favorite Things blog. This Chalkboard Greetings stamp set and Insert It 3″ x 4″ Notepad Die-namic are just a couple of toys being revealed today. Be sure to stop in at the My Favorite Things blog to see what other crazy fun things are happening.

Here are all the supplies I used. The links for the newest toys from My Favorite Things will be functional after the release on May 7.

InLinkz.com

Finished size: 5-1/2″ by 5-1/2″. Additional Supplies include Stampin’ Up! Whisper White Pigment (Craft) ink, Stampin’ Up! white embossing powder, Stampin’ Up! Stampin’ Pastels (Bashful Blue), Stampin’ Up! black brads, Fancy Pants Designs 6″ x 6″ Paper Pad Etcetera, My Mind’s Eye twine.

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May 5, 2013 | Filed Under: Card Gallery, Clearly Sentimental, My Favorite Things, Teaser Time, Tips and Techniques | 19 Comments