Every Moment

Hi Everyone.  Happy Tuesday night.  I hope you all have a fabulous day.

Tonight's card is clean and simple and uses a new color combination, using a color I have never used before – River Rock.  I really wasn't sure what to make of this color before I started to play with it.  Now, I think it might become one of my favorite colors.  It also fits in with the papertake weekly challenge – which is to create a card that features anything you would find in a garden.  A perfect challenge for me!  I really recommend you go check out not only the fabulous design team cards, but also the submissions.  I know you will find something to inspire you.

The stamp set is a new one from the 2010/2011 Idea Book and Catalog.  Every Moment.  I had great fun coloring the image of the bird on the bulrushes, but can't say it's my best coloring job!

We have the Goldfinches in our garden throughout the year and they really do bring me joy.  So, this card is my little homage to my cheerful Goldfinches.

Card recipe:

• Card stock:  River Rock, Always Artichoke, Very Vanilla,
• Inks:  Stazon Black, Soft Suede, Chocolate Chip, Daffodil Delight, Basic Black, Peach Parfait (for the beak and legs), Crumb Cake (for the underside of the tail)
• Stamp sets:  Every Moment,  Apple Blossoms – sentiment
• Tools:  Stampin' Dimensionals

Card Recipe:

• Cut River Rock card stock to A2 – card stand vertically
• Cut Always Artichoke to 3" W x 3 3/4" H
• Cut Very Vanilla to 2 3/4"W x 3 1/2"H
• Ink bird image with StazOn and stamp onto the Very Vanilla layer
• Use your favorite markers to color the images
• Mount the Very Vanilla Layer to the Always Artichoke layer using dimensionals.  Then adhere this layer to the card base using another round of dimensionals
• Ink "just a little note" sentiment in Early Espresso and stamp onto card base

Tips:

• When coloring eyes, leave a little white spot.  (My brother taught me that nearly half a century ago!)  It really does help to add a little life to the eye.
• When coloring feathers, remember they are never straight, so catch the light a little differently.  When I created the white stripes on the wing feathers, I made sure that I left a squiggly shape to make them look more natural
• I tried to create the soft textured look on the bulrushes by using different color browns and left some lighter and darker areas

Very quick and simple, the "hardest" part of making this card was coloring.  For me… coloring really is a form of meditation and I really do enjoy it.

On a personal note:   the house is very quiet as Lou is in Buenos Aires.  Needless to say his journey was not without the usual drama.  He got to Atlanta and half an hour later they closed down the airport.  No planes could leave and none could land.  A major thunderstorm.  That made his departure nearly 2 hours late  and, of course, he arrived late, too!  So it was straight to the hotel for a quick shower before going to the client.  Errrrr…mmmmm… seems the corporate travel agent had given the hotel the incorrect credit card number – oh and the name didn't match either.  So, the hotel canceled his booking.  Oh… and they were fully booked when he arrived.   One day… he might just have a very uneventful trip. 🙂

I did promise to share with you the contents of the care box that my customers received..  so, here's a quick peek at their parcel to say thank you for supporting me during the 2009/2010 catalog.  I consider it to be Christmas – Stampin' Up! style – in July!

Inside were a few essentials – newsletter  

 Then of course, you can't have a play kit without examples of the new colors of card stock – and samples of DSP.  A full size sample of each of the new colors and 6×6 samples from the new Greenhouse Gala DSP.  The new thin grosgrain ribbon was the perfect thing to wrap around the card stock.

And, of course, a post-it holder – customized with a cover containing a stamp from the new Friends Never Fade set.
  Along with a Stampin' Up pen.  I also made them customized punch templates on a ring binder, accompanied by a punch list.  The laminated punch templates have a number on the back – that corresponds to the number in the catalog – and on the punch list.

I did add some other things – including the ribbon wrapped catalog; a reference sheet for the colors by family, etc.  Everything was shipped in a working project box.   I had great fun putting them together, and from what I hear – they were greatly appreciated.  My customers are great and I really do appreciate them. 

Hopefully, you might have found a couple of ideas for your own space (like the punch template), punch list, etc. 

Well, I am off to make a quick card – well try at least! 

As always, thank you to all of you for your visit, your support and your comments.  As you can see from each other – it's not just me who enjoys your comments.  Germaine, it was great to see you blogging and back to making cards.  I did try to add comments to your blog to say HI and YAY – unfortunately, I couldnt as it kept kicking back my google id and I don't have a blogger id.  So – I'm saying hey and congratulations, here instead!

Trish, good luck tomorrow.  I bought a couple of other things to add to your chemo care pack and will be posting them off to you later this week. 

Prayers for Trish, Germaine, T, Pri, Arthur, Rach, Lynn/Jim, Missy.

Have a fabulous Wednesday everyone. – Enjoy Every Moment 🙂

Hugs

Jaydee