Runs with Scissors
Hello, Dear Reader! I am happy you could stop by. I am still being inspired by the Celebrate release so here are more cards using those stamps and dies. As I review the work I’ve done this morning, I notice I made only one “cute” themed card, usually my favorite: proof that we just go where the muse takes us.
Today it is about flowers, sentiments, a graduate and teddy bears.
I thought this casual sketchy flower from the Flower Medley set was just right for some casual Copic coloring. The colors on the designer paper from the Summertime paper pad were the perfect match. Our cards don’t have to be elaborate or tricky; sometimes clean and simple is best. The Flower Medley set is perfect for making quick and easy cards that you can be proud to send.
Once again, I am using Therese Calvird’s technique by lightly stamping and coloring the Grad! image and then overstamping a bold and beautiful sentiment. The key seems to be keeping the image fairly light and the sentiment very dark. Using the MISTI is very helpful to ensure that sentiment is dark enough. I think this message is just the right advice for any graduate. Love pairing up an image with just the right sentiment.
And here is Aunt Helen, enjoying her simple pleasure of feeding the birds in the park. I was wondering if there was a limit to the type of image that would work for this overstamping technique, and was happy to see even this amusing scene lends itself well. The secret is to stamp the image in a lighter ink and color it in using light pastels. This is a great technique to use with those oversized sentiments that might not otherwise fit on your card after you’ve stamped the main image.
Righteous Indignation
Our “new” car is now two years old and lately I noticed that the cloth front seats were a bit dingy with a few unwelcome spots. I mentioned to Mr. RWS that the seats needed shampooing. A side note: It has been long established that the maintenance and cleaning of the car was Mr. RWS’s responsibility. I did not want to interfere with that good policy. I suggested he take the car to have the interior “detailed”.
Mr. RWS was not eager to spend the money involved and declared he would use the attachment that came with our carpet shampooer and clean the upholstery himself. Well, as a lot of DIY projects go, this one did not start well. Our carpet shampooer is at least 17 years old. It has been a good and faithful servant for handling emergency carpet issues.
Mr. RWS’s first need was the owner’s manual for the shampooer so he could figure out how to attach the upholstery gadget. We have a portable file, a left over from the RV’ing days, where I file owners’ manuals for the appliances we purchase. I flipped through the impressive stack and found manuals for the pressure washer, the generator, the hot water heater, the alarm system, the griddle, the washer and dryer, microwave and range hood, the coffee pot … well, you get the idea. No owner’s manual for the shampooer.
I certainly could have Googled my carpet shampooer and perhaps found the correct manual, but a glance at the kitchen countertop convinced me that it was time to call in the pro’s.
Mr. RWS had added the cleaning liquid to the water in the shampooer’s tank. I was stunned to see that he had used the hardwood floor cleaner instead of the carpet and upholstery shampoo. He explained that he couldn’t find the right cleaner and didn’t believe it would make a difference to use the floor cleaner instead of upholstery cleaner.
So, off he went in our one and only car to have the interior cleaned. He learned it would be a four hour process so he wore his hiking boots, took along a book and planned to hike to the area mall for lunch.
Later that day after he had been home a while, I went out to the car to admire the spanking clean upholstery. And it was not even close to spanking clean. Actually, it looked like it hadn’t been cleaned at all. I was indignant that after the long wait and the total inconvenience, someone had not done a good job.
After a phone call to the car wash place, we arranged to go back the next day for a “redo”. I thought it only fair that I go along to make sure the people involved realized what an inconvenience this was for us. Also, how incompetent someone had been to do such a poor job. I was not looking forward to the four hour wait, either.
Upon arrival at the Car Wash/Detail facility, we were directed to park the car next to the space where the man responsible for cleaning our car was working. Imagine my shock when we pointed out the remaining grime, that he grabbed a can of spray foam and a white cloth and proceeded to spray and rub the upholstery.
Surely, I said, they had electric shampooers! No wonder my upholstery didn’t get clean. I was getting more indignant just thinking about the time we were wasting.
And then it happened: this middle aged man, who had left the project he was working on, looked at me and smiled. Oh, no ma’am, he said. If I soaked that foam upholstery it would never dry, you would get mold and ruin it. All the while he was talking, he was vigorously rubbing the light beige, fuzzy fabric of our front seats.
We’ve had cars detailed before and the work always took place in an air conditioned dealer’s facility, behind large glass windows so you could watch. Here in Alabama, at least at this place of business, the people doing the work had a work station outside, at the mercy of the bright and hot sunshine.
As the man looked up from his work, smiling at me, I noticed the rivulets of sweat, unhindered by the bandana around his head, pouring down his deep mahogany face. He continued spraying and wiping while he complimented us on how well we kept the interior of our car. And he really liked the trim. And he was very sorry we had to come back. And then he demonstrated how the fuzzy fabric and the bright sunshine made it almost impossible to see if all the dirt was gone. Only after we had it home for a few hours, parked in the dim interior of our garage, could you see the dirt that remained.
And then, Dear Reader, I noticed his shoes. The tops were almost detached from the soles. They offered very little protection from the water pouring from the hoses he used for detailing the exterior of cars brought to him. They certainly were very little use for walking on the gravel surface that was his work station. And that’s when I felt ashamed.
I had no right being indignant. I was able to pay someone to do work that I absolutely did not want to do. The very idea of leaning over that car interior and scrubbing it made my back hurt. Yet, this man does that work all day every day. And he was treating me with courtesy I did not deserve.
I don’t know the story of any of the people working there that day. They all were outside, under the sun, washing, drying and detailing vehicles that most of them probably could not afford. Perhaps some of them were grateful for the second chance a job at a car wash gave them. And I am sure those working at the detail stations were grateful for the promotion from the car wash line.
We left our car to dry while we ventured out to find lunch. I wondered if that man would be given a lunch break or if he was obligated to have the car he was working on finished within a specific time slot, only to have to go on to the next one. Redoing our car had put him behind, I am sure.
I brought a cookie back from lunch and handed the man the cookie and a generous tip which he accepted graciously. I didn’t tell him how ashamed I was of my righteous indignation when I arrived. I did thank him for his hard work and assured him the seats would be just fine.
And they are.
The first layer of this card was made by blending Distress Oxide inks and then adding an overlay of embossed vellum. The oval diecut was decorated with the emboss resist technique using that same casual flower from the Flower Medley set. This card sat on my desk for two weeks; too much effort expended to throw it away, but not interesting because the colors in the two layers blended and the card was boring. And then I realized it needed some white to break up those layers. I used the Nature Borders for the white strips and added the Ballerina, pearls and all, to the center of the oval. Much more interesting!
Here are more flowers from the Felicity cling stamp that are perfect for covering the center of your card. I colored the flowers with my Zig Clean Color Real Brush pens and enjoyed just letting the colors wander on the petals and finally settle down. Once again, I’ve used the Birds and Banner set and the Banner Sentiments set for my message. The flower placement made it perfect for the banner to be placed in the middle of the card.
I am in love with these Birthday Bears. So fun and easy to color and then cut out using the Party Bears die set. Those little sign boards they are holding are perfect for the tiny words from the Word Express set. Teddy Bears and polka dots and a stitched border – cute as can be!
I am sure I’ve mentioned before that Cooper is very food-focused. Any sound generated in the kitchen brings Cooper from wherever he might have been snoozing. Here he is sitting nicely, waiting for me to let go of the treat I am tempting him with. It is almost pitiful how much he enjoys those little pieces of pretend jerky.
There is only time for a very quick good-bye. I do tend to “talk” a lot. Off I go to the Penny Circle Flickr Gallery. Hope I see your work there.
Shop for today’s featured Penny Black supplies
Card No. 1: 30-421 Flower Medley, 30-431 Hope Shines, 80-016 Summertime
Card No. 2: 30-419 Happy Wishes, 30-428 Grad
Card No. 3: 30-419 Happy Wishes, 40-525 Aunt Helen
Card No. 4: 30-421 Flower Medley, 51-313 Ballerina, 51-331 Nature Borders
Card No. 5: 30-423 Banner Sentiments, 40-517 Felicity, 51-352 Birds and Banners
Card No. 6: 30-106 Word Express, 30-427 Birthday Bears, 51-355 Party Bears, 51-353 Cut Out Borders
Fun Friday: Links we Love
Before we begin our Fun Friday feature, we’re popping in to let you know we have a NEW RELEASE coming next week! And just in case you haven’t been following us on Instagram and Facebook, where we’ve been sharing some exciting sneak peeks, we’ve gathered them all together just for you, our fabulous blog buddies. Spot any new favorites?
See you Monday for the full reveal!
And now be sure to scroll down for our Fun Friday feature.
In continuing with this week’s clean and simple card-making by Francine, we couldn’t help but share with you some ‘links we love’ to other clean and simple cards featuring our stamps and dies. Get ready to click, click, click your way to loads of inspiration with our Penny Black Simplicity Sisters!
Jean Manis has a special way of creating colorful yet simple cards featuring our Creative Dies. Don’t miss all four of these creations… they are certainly “to die for!” Full reveal of each card available at the links below:
Upper Left
Upper Right
Lower Left
Lower Right
Marion Vagg posted a trio of oh-so-elegant cards featuring our Slapstick/Cling stamp, 40-508 Gladsome.
Click HERE for the full reveal.
Springtime comes to life on this one layer design by Mayline Jung. And how lucky are we? She recorded her process, too! Click HERE for the full reveal and VIDEO.
Cuteness, personalization, and easy to create all in one card? Yes, please! Don’t miss this sweet design by Patti Kehl.
Click HERE for the full reveal.
Therese Schaffer makes a bold (and gorgeous!) statement with just one bright and happy flower. Click HERE for the full reveal.
And Vanessa Menhorn’s coloring technique of colored pencils on dark cardstock couldn’t be prettier. Click HERE for the full reveal.
Oh, and one more thing… TGIF!
“Like” our page on Facebook for exclusive inspiration by Birgit Edblom!
Over the Hill
This week we are thrilled to spotlight clean and simple card-making with the talented Francine Vuillème. Francine’s cards feature uncluttered style, one main focal point, white space, and minimal layers. And they are also filled with inspiration and certainly a lot of charm!
This adorable pair from our transparent set, 30-407 Cat Days, are happily heading over the hill together on Francine’s next card. An inked circle, simply cut in half, makes for a charming hill which grounds Francine’s critter scene and gives it a special look.
For Francine’s instructions for this card, please visit her blog HERE.
And if you are looking for even more clean and simple inspiration featuring Penny Black products, don’t forget to check out our SIMPLICITY site! New clean and simple designs are posted every Tuesday and Thursday.
Special thanks to Francine for this week of SIMPLICITY and inspiration. And never fear, the clean and simple inspiration continues tomorrow… see you then!
Shop for today’s featured Penny Black supplies
30-407 Cat Days
30-358 Happy Snippets
30-283 Snippets
Simply Awaken
This week we are thrilled to spotlight clean and simple card-making with the talented Francine Vuillème. Francine’s cards feature uncluttered style, one main focal point, white space, and minimal layers. And they are also filled with inspiration and certainly a lot of charm!
This clean and simple card layout by Francine could be used with so many of our floral stamps. Today she’s featured just one of the blooms from our Slapstick/Cling stamp, 40-507 Awaken. By isolating only one bloom, she gives the stamp a completely new look. What a great way to get even more from your stamps!
For Francine’s instructions for this card, please visit her blog HERE.
And if you are looking for even more clean and simple inspiration featuring Penny Black products, don’t forget to check out our SIMPLICITY site! New clean and simple designs are posted every Tuesday and Thursday.
Shop for today’s featured Penny Black supplies
Birthday Bees
This week we are thrilled to spotlight clean and simple card-making with the talented Francine Vuillème. Francine’s cards feature uncluttered style, one main focal point, white space, and minimal layers. And they are also filled with inspiration and certainly a lot of charm!
How fun is this sweet card by Francine? She’s used our Creative Die, 51-338 …Birthday, for her happy sentiment.
And where did those cute bees come from? The same place as the adorable pup— our transparent set, 30-414 Time to Celebrate. Francine simply cut apart the bees from the present so she could make it look as if they are holding up the birthday banner. Genius.
For Francine’s instructions for this card, please visit her blog HERE.
And if you are looking for even more clean and simple inspiration featuring Penny Black products, don’t forget to check out our SIMPLICITY site! New clean and simple designs are posted every Tuesday and Thursday.
Shop for today’s featured Penny Black supplies
51-338 …Birthday
30-414 Time to Celebrate
Tarzan Kitty
This week we are thrilled to spotlight clean and simple card-making with the talented Francine Vuillème. Francine’s cards feature uncluttered style, one main focal point, white space, and minimal layers. And they are also filled with inspiration and certainly a lot of charm!
We’re so glad this adorable Tarzan kitty is swinging by for a visit today. Francine transformed the cat from our transparent stamp set, 30-414 Time to Celebrate, giving him a “rope” instead of balloons. How clever!
For Francine’s instructions for this card, please visit her blog HERE.
And if you are looking for even more clean and simple inspiration featuring Penny Black products, don’t forget to check out our SIMPLICITY site! New clean and simple designs are posted every Tuesday and Thursday.
And before we go, we just wanted to announce the winner from our recent giveaway with Vicky P.! Congrats to Rebecca Craddock! Please email us your $25 worth of selections from our online store to info@pennyblackinc.com, with the subject line “Vicky P. Giveaway Winner.” Don’t forget to also include your shipping information.
Shop for today’s featured Penny Black supplies
30-414 Time to Celebrate
51-002 Leaves
30-351 Kool Kats
alexandra’s Sunday scrapbooking – the Cameo Effect
Runs with Scissors
Once again, here we are Penny Black friends. The lovely month of May is flying by more quickly than January or February even tried. Here in the United States tomorrow is Mothers Day. There is no more difficult nor more important job. To every mother out there I say, “Enjoy this special day. You have earned it.”
While I am thankful for the privilege of being a mother, I have learned to accept and appreciate the slower pace and lowered responsibility of my life as a retiree. There is no way I could be sneaking out of the house to spend Saturdays on the Penny Black blog if my children were still at home. If I remember correctly, it wasn’t easy carving out time for an occasional bubble bath.
Here is what I’ve done with my free time this morning:
Therese Calvird did a video, watch HERE, demonstrating the technique I’ve used on this card. Those incredible sentiment sets that Penny Black has included in the past two releases, Bliss and Celebrate, are worthy of being the focus of the card. Therese demonstrated a great technique that allows for the large sentiment as well as an image to fit on the same card. Using the MISTI, I stamped the large sentiment with black Memento ink. I left the sentiment stamp in place on the MISTI and then using soft grey Memento ink, I stamped the Cheerful floral image on top of the sentiment. I then loosely and lightly colored the flowers and butterflies with Copic markers. The next step was to put the card back into the MISTI, reink the sentiment with VersaFine black ink and stamp the verse again. It was pretty quick and easy and the technique would work with many combinations of sentiment and image stamps. It is true that moms “do many small things with great love” in addition to all the big things they do.
I am finding many ways to use that Stencil Cut set of dies. Not only can you use them for great backgrounds, they can be the focal point, too. For this card I just cut the opening three times and placed a layer of designer paper from the Summertime paper pad between the openings and the card base. Any sentiment would work, but this sentiment from the Especially Micely set makes the card appropriate for any mother.
Sometimes I forget how much I enjoy coloring with Prismacolors on kraft cardstock. Here is the sweet Sunflower Baby ready for summer in her sun suit and sandals. It looks like she got a little sun while picking sunflowers in her garden. I am so proud of myself for remembering to “ground” her by drawing those black lines!
My mom has been gone a long time. She did not live long enough for her hair to turn the silver that she so hoped for. There have been many times I wished she was here to see my children as adults and most of all, to meet my grandchildren. She did not live long enough to meet Mr. RWS or to know that I am not growing old alone.
The mothers I admire most at this stage of my life are the wives of my sons. They work at very demanding jobs and then devote their evenings and weekends to ensuring my grandchildren are able to participate in many enrichment activities and sporting opportunities. I am sure there are many weekends they would prefer to sleep late or spend the day in their pajamas relaxing.
My hat is off to them and to all of you whether you are empty nesters who are missing the everyday routine of raising your children or moms who are in the thick of it all.
Hats off to Grandmothers, too, whether you are blessed to be a hands-on Grandma or, like me, have to be content with Facetime and occasional visits via airplane.
As an adoptive Mom, I have a special place in my heart for those moms who loved their babies enough to place them for adoption. I have written the story here of my adopted son’s birth mother letting him know she was open to being contacted. This is the first Mothers Day my heart is at peace for her because finally she was able to share her story and enjoy the photos and letters that were exchanged. What I haven’t shared is that within a few months after making that connection, the metastatic cancer that made her search so urgent finally claimed her life. I am grateful that I was finally able to thank her for that most precious gift.
Because I was raised as an “Army Brat” I must salute the military wives and mothers who, though married, often function as a single parent while their spouse is deployed to places families are not allowed. And even though the next duty station may allow wives and children to accompany their military husband and dad, there are sacrifices involved. Most military wives cannot pursue a career of their own as the frequent moves prohibit them from making long term employment commitments. As mothers, they watch their children make and leave friends; leave a school they have been successful and comfortable in; and give up extra curricular activities that they may have excelled in. And it is the Mom’s job to create a home for the family at the next stop in the military career. Every military wife and mom knows that her family’s acceptance of the new surroundings depends on how accepting she is.
Several years ago I gave up planting flowers around our house and in the backyard. I claimed the reason was that I was “all nurtured out”. That must not have been totally true as soon after I gave up raising flowers, we adopted Cooper. There must still be a little nurturing gene left.
A long time ago when the kids were all home and Mothers Day was approaching I would kiddingly ask them “When is the Mothers Day truck coming with all my presents?” When I saw this stamp in the Cheerful Critters stamp set, it brought back the memories of my asking about the Mothers Day, Birthday and Christmas truck! So here is the bright pink mini vehicle stuffed with presents and on its way to deliver them to some very happy moms. I really like those larger sized banners in the Birds and Banners set that accommodate some of the die cut sentiments.
I have said it many times before: the only mice I like are the cute Penny Black mice. These little guys are from the Especially Micey set and are having fun whizzing around and flying their banner. This time I’ve stamped “Life is Great” but you could choose any Happy Snippets sentiment. I am always pleased to use some of my designer paper, this time from the Golden Moment paper pad.
This Birthday Fairy is pure coloring joy. And those wings and crown are a great place to add bling. This card had a mind of its own and it took hours before I finally gave up on my original idea to paper piece a la Peet and colored with Copics instead. Thankfully, there is no sign of the many earlier attempts at stamping my image that ended up in the waste basket. No matter how many times I checked my fingers and the MISTI cover plate, every stamping impression ended up with smudges or blurs. The solution was to walk away for an hour and start over. Thankfully, the smudge gremlins grew tired of waiting for my return and went on to bug some other stamper. My apologies if they found their way to your desk. This card became more clean and simple than I intended. It seemed prudent to quit while I was ahead.
Our weather last week was so beautiful that it was impossible to stay indoors. We put Cooper in the car and drove two miles to Ditto Landing, a park and marina on the Tennessee River. There are walking paths, a camp ground, and the incredible Tennessee River. We put Cooper on his long retractable leash and let him wander and sniff away. Cooper is happiest when he is in shade. Every hike finds us going from shaded spot to shaded spot. I took this photo while Mr. RWS and I were sitting on the picnic table bench in the sun just gazing at the river for a few minutes. Cooper, being the shade seeking canine that he is, spent the time under the bench. I snapped the shot as he decided to check on us, perhaps ready to scurry to the next shade-giving tree along the river bank.
Has anyone seen my itty bitty vacuum? All those little specs from die cutting are scattered everywhere. I hate leaving Penny Black’s studio in a mess and that itty bitty vacuum is easier to handle than the big one. Thankfully, I haven’t misplaced my scissors and I will be running again next week. Thank you for spending time with Cooper and me and thank you for posting your Penny Black creations in the Penny Circle Flickr Gallery.
Be sure to Celebrate and find time to do something you love this Mothers Day.
Shop for today’s featured Penny Black supplies
Card No. 1: 30-406 All Great Things, 40-514 Cheerful
Card No. 2: 30-410 Especially Micely, 51-349 Stencil Cut, 80-016 Summertime
Card No. 3: 30-423 Banner Sentiments, 40-526 Sunflower Baby, 51-352 Birds and Banners
Card No. 4: 30-426 Cheerful Critters, 51-220 Party for You, 51-352 Birds and Banners
Card No. 5: 30-410 Especially Micely, 30-358 Happy Snippets, 51-359 Critters, 80-015 Golden Moment
Card No. 6: 30-423 Banner Sentiments, 40-524 Fairy Birthday, 51-352 Birds and Banners
Inspiration X 3!
Today’s post is filled to the brim with inspiration as we have not one, not two, but THREE cards for you.
We begin with the amazing designs of our Lovely Layers Ladies. First up is Emilia Sieradzan, AKA Lady E.
She’s created a shabby chic card design which features watercolors, stamping, and the layering of Creative Dies.
Be sure to check out her video… it’s truly mesmerizing to watch her gorgeous card come to life.
Watch directly on YouTube HERE.
Next up, Yenni Natalia’s card is filled with an abundance of elegance and beauty.
We love how she’s “grounded” her focal point floral stamping in a garden of cattails and leaves cut from our Creative Dies. It’s truly wonderful!
That’s not all, our product spotlight with Vicky continues today with her fifth video. (Seriously, how spoiled are we?!)
To give our Slapstick/Cling stamp, 40-513 Burst of Blooms, an extra elegant look, Vicky has incorporated gold foil into her design.
Vicky’s foiling process is quite simple… watch it below.
Watch directly on YouTube HERE.
And we just love how she kept with the golden gorgeousness by gold heat embossing her sentiment from our transparent set, 30-413 Birthday Love.
As the week comes to a close, we’d like to extend a special thanks to Vicky for all of the fun and inspiration!
Oh, and one more thing… TGIF!
“Like” our page on Facebook for exclusive inspiration by Birgit Edblom!
Shop for today’s featured Penny Black supplies
Card 1: 51-007 Tagged, 51-311 Cogwheels, 51-340 Dream Big, 51-308 Bold Branch, 51-285 Line of Hearts, 30-238 Footnotes
Card 2: 51-334 Butterfly Border, 51-325 Leaf Edger, 51-315 Cattail Clique, 51-333 Awesome, 40-507 Awaken
Card 3: 40-513 Burst of Blooms, 30-413 Birthday Love
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