Running with Scissors and… Bread Crumbs!

As they say in Australia, “Oh, my giddy aunt!” I’m so happy to be here today. But it wasn’t easy. Since it’s been a while, I got lost on my way here and spent some time wandering aimlessly in blogland. Luckily my GPS (Geographic Personal Servant) came to my rescue and here I am. However, no worries about finding my way home; I left a trail of bread crumbs, just in case.

It’s all about love and friendship this week, a theme dear to the heart of card makers. I love the new Valentine release but I’m not quite ready to put away some of my favorite Penny Black stamps. So here’s what happened when I gave them one more inking and a chance to show what they can do.

I used my shimmery watercolor paints to create the background on this card and then stamped the Softly image onto it with Memento Tuxedo Black ink. I colored the flowers and leaves with Copic markers.

I love the sentiment and for this card I would modify it to say, “A friend is one who notices the sentiment is slightly crooked but doesn’t mention it.”

Speaking of giddy aunts, they were on hand for the grand opening of the new Penny Black site SIMPLICITY at its Best, featuring the CAS (Clean and Simple) designs of the new group of talented paper artists, Penny Black’s Simplicity Sisters. I am so excited that Penny Black has provided a source of inspiration for the clean and simple style. You will find me hanging out there on Tuesdays and Thursdays when new posts are published. I will be wondering, “Why didn’t I think of that?”

May Sukyong Park was first to share her work on the new site and she inspired me to give clean and simple a try. This is her card and this is my CASE on it:

May’s card is one-layer but I had to fussy cut my little kitty friend and pop him up with foam tape. I love the crisp look of the masking technique May used. I stamped and white embossed the chalk board sentiment onto the masked off card base and then used my distressing tool to apply Luxe inks. Without May’s inspiration, I would not have come up with this idea. You will note: there are no sequins, glitter or gems.

I am so in love with penguins this year. I see no reason to put these little guys away with the Christmas stamps! They probably would sneak out of the box anyway, relying on their cuteness to keep them out of trouble.

I was still thinking about CAS while making this card, but maybe adding the little sticker hearts disqualifies it. I’ve used an embossing folder for the background and stamped the penguins with black VersaFine ink and embossed with clear embossing powder. I love that multiple small images lend themselves so well to the CAS style.

So much has happened in the RWS family lately! Let me bring you up to date.

First of all, that intricate little project I talked about last month arrived on November 18^th, weighing 8 lbs. 1 oz. Welcome to the world Jack Lincoln!

Big sister Evelyn Rose, 17 months old, has no idea how much her life has changed and her initial reaction to becoming a big sister was to ignore the whole situation! Things are much better now as she learns to love baby Jack.

For our Thanksgiving, we were thrilled to have daughter Kathy fly in from Minneapolis to help make the stuffing and share in the Thanksgiving meal.

As one would expect from someone who runs with scissors, I changed Thanksgiving from Thursday to Wednesday so Kathy would be here to help consume leftovers. She was flying out Friday morning and I was terrified Mr. RWS and I would be eating turkey for weeks without her help (I only know how to cook Thanksgiving dinner for a large crowd, so I always buy a 20 lb. turkey).

Also joining us was Mr. RWS’s golf partner, Tom, who at the age of 82 walks 18 holes of golf three times a week while carrying his own clubs. Tom is very obviously very Irish and we enjoyed his story-telling. We sent him home with a generous supply of leftovers for his Thursday Thanksgiving meal.

In order to ensure everything was ready for dishing up dinner, Kathy and I had the serving dishes set out on the countertop and spilling over onto the surface of my smooth top stove. Suddenly, we heard a very loud crash/explosion behind us. (Never a good sound in the kitchen). Much to our dismay we discovered my more-than-75 year old antique footed dish had exploded. Somehow the rear burner of the stove had been turned on beneath the dish causing it to explode.

This depression-glass, footed dish has been the serving bowl for what our family calls “green stuff” (Watergate salad) for all the years we’ve been a family. It was handed down from the kids’ paternal grandmother and I treasured it. A few Thanksgivings ago it survived a surprise trip, flying off the refrigerator shelf, landing on its “feet” and sliding halfway across the kitchen, spewing “green stuff” everywhere! The shelf had been overloaded, the door shut in spite of the overload and the pent up energy from being stuffed into the fridge exploded when the door was opened.   Thanksgiving just won’t be the same without a “green stuff” story.

I’ve wanted to use this ice skater image from Snow Dancer for awhile, but could not come up with an idea for a background. When I spotted the Winter Song cling stamp on my desk, I found myself wondering if …

And so I covered the bird sitting on the branch with a circle of silvery glitter paper to provide the “pond” for the skater to dance on. You may have noticed this card does not fit the theme of love and friendship, but every now and then you just have to let the muse have its way!! I enjoy taking advantage of Penny Black’s permission to “do my thing”.

This image, illustrated by Mo Manning, evokes very strong emotions every time I see it. To me, it speaks eloquently of a lifetime love: solid, enduring, and comfortable. Mr. RWS and I could easily be the Tom and Tilly in this card, especially since I seem to be working on acquiring that rear view of Tilly’s!

I paper-pieced this card, fussy cut the image and used foam tape to add it to the circle. Paper piecing is a technique I love. Selecting the papers and the cutting and pasting is pure relaxation. As the image comes to life, I find myself smiling.

So there we have it: love and friendship. Life would be an empty shell without the people in our lives who matter. I enjoyed using some favorite stamps before moving on to new ones and the best part has been sharing with you.

My hope is that you have been following the Penny Black blog these past weeks and didn’t miss the special events. There was a week featuring Art Squares; a week featuring work done by Penny Black fans; a week of demonstrating many uses of the Oh, Tannenbaum stamp; and of course the grand opening of the Simplicity at its Best special site.

Just when you think things can’t get any better, Penny Black proves they can!

Everyone appreciated Cooper showing up for dinner in his best shirt and tie. However, this looks says, “Don’t make me do this again.”

The giddy aunts are hovering; it must be time to go. It’s been great to spend time with you again. For now, I’ve stowed the scissors and put away the paper, stamps and dies.   It’s time for those giddy aunts and me to follow the bread crumb trail that will lead us safely home.

Shop for today’s featured Penny Black supplies:

• Stamps: 40-319 Softly, 40-292 A Friend Is, 40-308 Cupcake Day, 30-252 Winter Friends, 40-353 Let’s Chill, 40-339 Winter Song, 30-267 Snow Dancer, 40-098 Tom and Tilly
• Creative Dies: 51-025 Love Expressions, 51-052 Texting