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Cozy comforts! All that's missing is a mug of steaming tea!
Who am I kidding...where's the glass of wine?!?

A Little Me Time

I decided to stay home last Thursday and enjoy whatever I found to enjoy! What a treat day I had starting with a leisurely morning (trolling my laptop) and sipping 3 cups of coffee (I usually just drink 2)! Then I decided to make Monster Cookies. The back story is we made a few purchases recently from the Amish who set up their wagon in the Village of Central Square every Saturday. One of the items we purchased was Monster Cookies, and were they every good! I was intrigued by the fact they were flourless and made with oatmeal. Well, the two cups plus of sugars kind of kicks them out of the healthy eating category, but it's early fall and I bake cookies (mostly for my husband). They turned out great and our office staff will enjoy them on Friday as well.

Next I decided to make dinner from scratch. Usually we have leftovers during the work week, but I felt like being creative for a Thursday dinner, and I know my husband would be pleasantly surprised.

Before it was time to start dinner, I went up to my happy craft space without much of an agenda in mind. I finished a heron card I was stuck on, which is shown below. It's from a background scrap (I actually think this is the scrap from Geli printing so it's acrylic paint) and I always liked the coastal colors of it. Whatever paint I used, however, doesn't take well to inkpad ink, so I had to go over it with a Micron pen to sharpen the lines. All in all, I like the message of the card.

Happy Fall Ya'll!

Everybody says "ya'll" in Florida (and probably the entire south) and I'm starting to throw it in here and there too. The next card was a total "what if" card starting with my Concord & 9th ink cubes. They are super rich and I don't know what made me pick up a color and start making swipe marks. Maybe it was the kind of enjoyable and relaxing day I was having that allowed me the time to truly play. Well, I kept going and adding swipes and then circles and finally a Delicato Gold inked leaf. Every swipe, circle and leaf used rules of collage. If you take it apart visually, you'll see the diagonal lines, triangles, odd numbers, cascading solid circles, you name it!

I enjoyed making the above card so much, I thought I'd try different color combinations and to leave less white space. After the panel was finished, I decided to stamp and diecut a leaf (Stampendous). A scrap diecut circle just happened to work as an element behind the leaf and provided the right area to stamp the sentiment. Gold splatter and gems finished this fun CAS card.

Sizzix Pumpkin Dies!

Every year I forget about my Sizzix Pumpkin Dies. I was rummaging through my stash last week and found them in time to actually use them for fall! I also dug through my background stash and liked what I found. Another "thing" I do (and maybe you do too) is think I have a background leaf stamp but couldn't remember if I really do! Again, I was rummaging through another box of stash and, sure enough, there was a FSJ background leaf stamp that I doubt I've ever used! The letters are from my vast Sizzix/Tim Holtz Letterboard diecut stash (also didn't remember I owned) and the font size worked perfect. Really liking the way this came card together.

Life Altering Product!

I fell upon a new product last week and it is AMAZING!!!! It is by Lawn Fawn and is called a Stamp Shammy and can be found at Simon Says Stamp and Amazon among others suppliers. Since I've been using it, I've thrown away all my yucky scraps of t-shirt material I use to wipe dirty stamps and now don't need the various stamp cleaners for dye inks and pigment inks! Once the shammy is saturated with water and the excess water squeezed out, it is ready to wipe all inks away from stamps and surfaces (even your fingers)! And I mean literally wipe once...no rubbing, no scrubbing. It is at a comfortable price point of around $7. I'm so happy with this product and hope you take a look at it as well.

Reader Share

A few weeks ago, I had dinner with my friend Jane. She showed me this sketched card front she drew and I immediately asked if I could post it in the E-News. I love the crow!!! She talked about finishing it with a little background wash. I get so excited when readers share with me!

This week, Janice Alvord of Camden Stamp Club, sent an email inviting people to participate in a card swap which I promptly signed up for. She also sent us a link to Scrapbook.com's Cards for Kindness program. I wasn't familiar with it and after reading about it, decided I definitely wanted to participate. I also felt many of you out there would want to jump in also! Here's the LINK to all the details of the program. You do have to make a minimum of 10 cards and there's a list of simple criteria to follow.

Knowing how much card makers love designing and giving cards, I believe this is something you'll be thrilled to be a part of!

Have a Pleasant Week!

XOXO

LYN