I had some of the images I stamped yesterday left over but they had been stamped on plain cardstock (not glossy). For the most part they took the alcohol markers OK but that purple was WAY too dark on these. I used the alcohol blender to color over the top to lighten the tone so it fits with the rest of the colors better.

I pulled out some green backing cardstock and a couple of purples in card bases. Each of the images and the green blocks were backed with black. The images are all popped up on foam tape.

I pulled out some little animal charms and tied their loops with a variety of twine colors. These are popped up on foam tape as well.

Not sure if those are zebra, wildebeast or some animal that doesn't exist except in the imagination. But they lend a cheery gleam to the design.

Ddd

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 12:01 AM PDT

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These projects started out when I ran across a leafy branch die cut I got a while back. I had not used it yet. I went looking for a stamp that I could use as a feature that would be complemented by the die cuts.

I selected this mountain scene from a set of scenic stamps that I have in green unmounted rubber. I stamped on glossy cardstock with Cocoa Memento Ink and colored using alcohol markers. The purples I had were too dark in relation to the other colors so I touched the tip to a blender pen and used that to color in the mountain.

I stamped the bold script greeting over the image and trimmed it out to mount on the black dotted paper. Leaves were cut from a variety of green patterned papers which were glued to overlap the image panel.

Two were designed in landscape and use violet card bases. 

Here is the third one - closer to show details.

Simple but pretty.

Ddd

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 12:01 AM PDT

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A few days ago hubby looked out the back window and spied a coyote out at the end of the yard. He has seen them at night going through the yard but always on the move. I've never seen one in the 24 years we've lived here.

Imagine our surprise that this one just wandered around a bit, looked around at the scenery and even watched us looking with binoculars for a while. It suddenly occured to us to grab the camera and see if it would hang around while we took photos.

We only got two shots before it moseyed off into the scrub brush and vanished.

I suppose this means I will be saying adios to a few bunnies, mice and other little critters that inhabit this space. But it was neat to see this awesome doggie.

Ddd

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 12:01 AM PDT

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I just recently learned that a flight (flock, group) of butterflies is called a kaleidoscope. How fun is that?

The final cuts made from the strip sets are three units of 2.5 inches. These get mixed up and reassembled into 9-patches. I had enough to include 16 on a quilt (instead of the 12 shown in the pattern). These are set on point with the spacing blocks from my stash of the colorful butterfly fabric.

I gave it a double border to quiet it down a bit and then quilted the orange dot border with sketchy butterflies.

The only color in the butterfly fabrics that was not in the 9-patch fabrics was bright green so I pulled that color from my stash for the backing. The quilting was all done in black so it would stand out on the backing.

This quilt finished up at 43 inches square. It as well as the three other quilts will all go to the hospital Passages program.

Ddd

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Still working on those strip sets, the second style of cut yields two triangles per set. These get assembled in groups of four to create blocks with a twist to them.

Because of the extra strips I included I was able to put together a quilt of 9 blocks instead of the 6 blocks in the pattern. I used bits from the stash for the sashing and cornerstones and made them wider than suggested and added double borders from the stash to get more size to the quilt.

I call this quilt 'tilt-a-whirl' because of the cant to the blocks and I also used a spiral inside these squares for the quilting.

More fabrics from the stash make up the backing, with piecing to stretch to the full size needed.

Finished size is not quite square at 44 x 45 inches.

Ddd

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 12:01 AM PDT

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The second set of 9 blocks from the strip quilt shown yesterday all contain pieces of the yellow floral fabric. This was from my stash as part of the strips added to get the full amount I wanted.

I call this quilt 'window boxes' because of this floral fabric and the squares created by the pattern.

I picked up the teal in the batiks with a teal border from my stash. This was also used on the back, along with some accent strips, and for the binding.

This quilt also measures 42 inches square.

Ddd

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 12:01 AM PDT

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How about a teaser first?

Because this is just too much wonderfullness to spring on you all at once, I will dole 4 new quilts out over the next few days.

I started from the Eleanor Burns pattern called "Twice As Nice - Plus More" which shows how to turn a 'jelly roll' into three quilts (one medium and two small). I wanted to make my quilts larger so I supplemented the 40 strips (batiks) with 14 more strips from my stash.

The strips are stitched together in sets of three and then some whacking this way and that way gives you three styles of cuts which are then assembled into blocks.

The first cut that is made from the strips makes up unto square window blocks. Because of the extra strips I put in I had enough to make 18 blocks instead of the 12 that the pattern addresses. So I split them into two sets of 9 for two square quilts.

This is the first. I call this 'black light' because it is so bright and psychadelic.

I added more from my stash for the border, backing and binding.

This quilt finished up at 42 inches square.

Ddd

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I had some ideas for using diecut flowers but don't have a die for flowers. I always had to cut them out by hand... no fun! So, on a craft supplies swap group, I saw a set of flower dies offered and in turn I offered a die that cuts parts for quilled flowers. I've never liked quilling so I was disappointed when I bought that die and never used it.

What a great trade! My partner also threw in a tiny flower die, a brackets die, and a little embossing folder with text.

Here is the main die:

It is a Sizzix that cuts three sizes / two styles of blooms.

Looking forward to using this.

Ddd

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Victorian houses in our area are often painted in bright and odd colors and refered to as painted ladies. I took that concept into account when selecting colors for this card.

The base is light gray which gave me an opportunity to mute the colors and create a unified look.

I used a backing of dark red over a cream to pull out colors from the illustration.

Ddd

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 12:01 AM PDT

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What is it about deciding you REALLY like a product that makes the manufacturer take it off the market? Does this happen to you, too?

Here are some things I really miss:

General Foods International Coffee - these instant flavored coffee drinks were available in a variety of flavors including (my favorite) chocolate raspberry, hazelnut creme and white chocolate caramel. They also had the more traditional french vanilla, irish creme and amaretto. Some were available in sugar-free as well. Not only that, but they came in cute rectangle metal canisters with snap-on plastic lids. So what happened? One day I went to the store and there weren't any. NONE. They just vanished off the face of the earth.

GardenBurger Meatballs - These veggie 'meatballs' had the greatest texture and flavor. I never served them and had anyone guess that they were not made of real ground meat. They were great with spaghetti, stroganoff and meatball sandwiches. They made awesome sweet and sour or barbequed appetizers, too. Just like the coffee... vanished.

Rolaids - How do you spell 'relief' now? This one was the result of some manufacturing faux pas (contamination) at a plant they had contracted with. So, get a different plant! Don't just throw up your hands and say 'oh well'. Fortunately, our supermarket has produced a knock-off that works just the same (other name brands, not so much).

Extra Strength Excedrin - We also found a replacement brand for this discontinued favorite pain releiver. When you have a headache you should NOT have to go experimenting for help!

Dimetap ExtendTabs - Thanks to the druggies I no longer get optimum relief for sinus pain. Pseudophedrine is now a perscription drug and does not get manufactured in this time-release formula. Pooh!

Vanilla Mint toothpaste - Oh how I loved the flavor of this! I guess not enough other people did, though. I have a problem with the strong minty flavors burning my tongue and this was just perfectly flavored.

Then there are the products that they up and change the formula to something they call 'improved' and I want my OLD, beloved back again! Shampoo, bathroom cleaner, nail polish remover, hairspray, dishwasher soap... yeah pretty much listed all chemicals!

I beg of you, Mr. marketer/developer/chemist... leave my Snapple, Tater Tots, Cheerios and Windex alone. If you have some wunderkind whiz kid who needs a project, require him to come up with something original and leave my stuff alone!

OK off my soap box (New and Improved Tide With Bleach Crystals and Fabric Softerner Beads, of course).

Ddd

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 12:01 AM PDT

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I have several cross patterns for paper embroidery but I think this is my favorite. It is decorative enough to stand on its own but also lends itself to adding decorative elements.

I stitched on a tone-on-tone orange paper using purple and dark green threads, having recalled that I had some purple and green floral rubons. This was a simple card to put together.

I backed with a green patterned paper over a purple card base.

Ddd

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 12:01 AM PDT

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Well, the OLD bag was bustin' at the seams. So I used it as a pattern and stitched up a replacement. This is what we use for our library materials.

The original was a cheap reuseable shopping bag. It measures 15.5 square with an 8 inch side and bottom. I had the heavy-duty fabric on hand as well as a heavy black fabric that I used to fashion the straps. I reinforced the bottom with a second layer of the floral fabric.

The seams are all zig-zagged before binding with bias tape to seal the raw edges. Narrow bias tape is also used to bind the upper raw edge.

A plastic shoe box (sans lid) is dropped into the bottom as further reinforcement and to keep the base from sagging when being used.

Ddd

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 12:01 AM PDT

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This is a whole different style of card creation and since I don't intend to do it ever again, I didn't want to create a new category for it!

The original sketch for this is a design for a 12 x 12 quilting block applique. I shrunk it down to fit an A2 card and traced/cut the pieces from patterned cardstock (10 different ones). Each piece is glued individually onto the black dotted background. I glued some green twine on for stems.

I trimmed it a bit to leave a fine red border of the card base showing and added a stamped sentiment block to the right to fill some open space.

Ddd

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 12:01 AM PDT

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Back when I whacked up all my 12 x 12 cardstock into card-sized chunks I ended up with a couple of odd bits wth glittery butterflies. I decided to see what I could do with these and had duplicates so I could do two cards the same.

The strange bits had two butterflies running off the edges on each side. I also had some small panels with a butterfly centered on it. These I cut out with a thin border. I cut the larger panel with a scalloped punch at the bottom, Tinted and applied a large corner bracker, and stamped a small sentiment.

The sentiment is tucked into a slit along one wing. The large butterfly has the body glued down flat and the wings raised up on foam.

Love how the cream-colored bits form a triangle.

Ddd

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 12:01 AM PDT

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Heree's another of those products I thought I had used up, only to find one more scrap left. I cut the individual tiles out and rounded the corners. These were popped up on foam on a sage green background, cut to size and corners rounded.

I chose a lattice background, added a yellow patterned strip and a little twine bow.

The stamped sentiment got two rounded corners and butts up against the yellow strip.

Ddd

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 12:01 AM PDT

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I ran across a snippet of cardstock with license plates printed on it and thought it would be fun to combine it with an emobssing folder I have with an antique car. As I pulled out the embossing folder I remembered that I have a stamp similar to that. Imagine my surprise when I pulled it out and discovered they are exactly the same, even to the same size. HA!

I stamped the car on some brown cardstock and then embossed it with the folder. Cool - except the folder has such sharp edges that it kind of tears the edges of the image. I used a foam applicator and distress ink to recolor those areas.

I pulled out more printed cardstocks with distressed looks and combined strips to create a masculine backbround. A vertical strip also got a piece of twine knotted around it. The car image was banded and popped up on foam. I reversed the colors for a stamped sentiment and tied it to the twine before popping up on foam.

As a final step I added three square nailhead stickers on th lower left.

I had enough matrials to create two identical cards at the same time.

Ddd

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 12:01 AM PDT

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Who doesn't love a bargain? And if it is on something cute, so much the better. I often make a quick swing by the clearance bin at the local craft store to see if there are any great deals to be had. Oh the joy the other day when I found two different pairs of background stamps on deep discount.

Can you see the price on those? Here, let me help you...

OH YEAH!

Each package has two cute background stamps. They are rubber mounted on cling foam to use with an acrylic block.

So cute!

Ddd

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If you like to eat in front of the TV it can be super handy to have some kind of clothing protector against spills. this is especially true of eating things like soup, spachetti and the like.

I made several of these and did not take photos of them. Then I had leftovers of the awesome train fabric and decided to make one more.

These measure 24" high by 15" wide and have a 6 1/2" neck hole. I rounded the corners with th same curve of the neck hole. The pocket is 5 1/2" high.

I used narrow double-fold bias tape to bind all the edges including the upper edge of the pocket. The back of the neck is cut open and there is velcro to facilitate closure.

Ddd

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 12:01 AM PDT

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This image came to me in a swap a long time ago and I just ran across it and decided to color it up. Since I didn't stamp it I took a chance by using Copic markers as I didn't know what kind of ink was used for the image. Only the yellows used on the headband and socks bled the image ink but I don't mind.

I used three tones in the hair and two each in the skin, sweater, skirt, socks and shoes. I used a combination of Copics, Spectrum Noir, and Bic Mark-It markers. I also added a cool grey halo around her and drew in some simple lines to provide seating for her.

I picked up the colors in her hair in the houndstooth, the dots in the socks in two black dotted papers, and her clothing in a teal band of patterned paper.

The girl and her background are popped up on foam. The sentiment is stamped onto the teal strip.

Ddd

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 12:01 AM PDT

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This is the first time I have colored this llama (one of my hand carved stamps) with Copic markers. I've usually never even done any shading on it. I actually like this effect a lot.

I trimmed him with a very fine white edge so he would stand out from the background. I chose a houndstooth to pick up color from the fur and a plue panel to mimic the eyes. The main panel was cut to reveal a thin white edge like the llama and he is popped up on foam tape.

Three square brass 'nail head' stickers mimic brads.

Ddd

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 12:01 AM PDT

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