Lens

Wonder of Watercolor Challenge

It's been quite a while since I've played along with a challenge over on the Moxie Fab World blog, but I thought this card might be a fun one to enter in the watercolor challenge. I painted the focal point rectangle with some distress inks when I was working on another project and thought it was a great fit for these beautiful bright My Mind's Eye papers. 

WOYWW 203 | It's a nice sunny morning

My next layout is going to be about my daughter's love for horses and horse books. Misty of Chincoteague is based on a true story and the map shows the location of Chincoteague Island and other locations from the book. 

A card from over the weekend. In retrospect, I wish I would've used just shades of green on the continents (and not the slash of brown over by California) . . . but c'est la vie. :)


Short and sweet -- I've got to get to work! Happy WOYWW, friends. :-)

~ Laura

WOYWW 202 | 3 cards and an art journal page

Good morning! The sun is shining, thank goodness, after some very gloomy weather yesterday.

Here is what covers my work table -- an art journal page left open for the molding paste to dry overnight and some things to put away. I had thought of making large flowers with the triangles of patterned paper you can see lying there, but decided they were too large for the page. The subject line of this post references WOYWW (What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday) -- do click the link and check it all out. 

A close-up of the page. It is easier for me to see the things I wish I were more skilled at, but I really love the bright colors and the dimensional honeycomb. 

I had heard that you can emboss with pigment ink and clear embossing powder.  I was skeptical and still am, a bit, although the green foliage came out kind of pretty. My Mom loves hummingbirds, so this card is for her upcoming birthday. 

The butterflies were "painted" with distress inks -- I really like the bright colors. I was contemplating looking up what the actual coloring of these butterflies might be in real life . . . but then just went the simpler route. :)

I had the pink piece done already, so called it into service when I wanted to make a quick thank you card. 

Have a happy day and a happy week, friends!

~ Laura

WOYWW 198 | Definitely not spring here yet!

Let's not talk about how snowy it was yesterday, shall we? We'll concentrate on the bright colors inside the house? Happy What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday! Do visit Stamping Ground, from whence this esteemed tradition blooms. 

Lots of stuff laying about. I decided to make some tags for layouts and gifts, so I got out some ribbon and brads and buttons. I've moved the distress markers to a larger oblong bowl (hiding under the paper trimmer) and the die cuts into a smaller one so I can see what's there.

And here are some things I've made:

Thanks for visiting! I hope to be able to get around to more folks this week (although I know I say that a lot.) 

~ Laura

WOYWW 197

Good morning or afternoon or evening to folks visiting here as part of the weekly WOYWW festivities. After you've thoroughly perused my . . . creativity den . . . do visit our kind hostess Julia at Stamping Ground.

We've just set the clocks ahead, which is lovely in the evening and gloomy in the morning (although it's cloudy, so I can't blame everything on the time change - ha!) On my table, beginning at the lower left we have my American Crafts binder that I'm using for Project Life this year. I've got Post-it(r) notes on the pockets to help me determine what pictures I need to edit. The bin of stamps pretty much lives on that upper left corner. To the right of the bin is a wooden bowl (not that you can see it) containing mainly diecuts, doilies, etc. I've got a sheet of stickers out and some papers I've cut to 4x6 for PL. I'm fussy-cutting some flowers in the foreground. I've got three cards I need to get in the mail. I've added more Distress Markers to the collection -- Hobby Lobby sells them in five packs. On the windowsill is the usual lineup. The patterned paper jumped out of the scrap drawer and demanded I think of making a card set with them. You can see the mess larger by clicking. ;-)

A Project Life page from a few weeks ago -- I'm happy with it because it's a good balance of hybrid and digital elements and I'm using up random bits from my stash. 

The map layout that lived on the table for about three weeks -- so glad to have made it! I thought I'd *never* find a use for those chipboard houses. 

And finally, a simple get well card. I stamped the new Hero Arts Leafy Vines stamp on the front (found a distress ink that went well with what was already on the paper), put the sentiment on an October Afternoon label sticker, added the butterfly embellishment and called it good. :)


Sorry for the long post! Thanks for visiting.

~ Laura

WOYWW 195 | 3 cards and a tag

Good morning or afternoon or evening! Here is my table as it looked when I left for work this morning. (Why am I showing you this? I'm participating in What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday of course! Check it out and join in. ) Tomorrow I will have an MRI on my elbow and before the next WOYWW comes around, I should know what's up. 

Next on my agenda is a layout about all the places I've lived. I've got the part of New York State here that encompasses the places I've called home, even briefly, and punched out a square from North Carolina and Arizona as well.  I think I've finally found a use for these little chipboard houses. :)

 Over the weekend I decided to ink up this new-to-me Hero Arts floral stamp -- I think it came out last year. I clear embossed it onto two cards. On the first I used Copics to color it (I only have about six Copics -- they're expensive and I'm cheap. ;-) )

On the second one I used distress inks -- I really like the soft look here. 

This next one features a lovely paper napkin that I brought home with me from coffee hour at church -- I used PPA to adhere it and stamped Birthday Wishes with archival ink when it was dry. 

The tag was just playing . . . Hero Arts friendship definition stamp stamped in archival ink, then a swirly pattern clear embossed, colored over it with Spun Sugar distress stain (which is so pale on the manila tag that it didn't really show up) and Worn Lipstick distress ink. I topped it with bits and pieces I had lying around.

 Thanks for visiting! I'll get around to everyone who comments here for sure and as many others as I can manage. [Edited to add: I've attempted to comment back to everyone, but some of them don't seem to want to go through. All of your visits and comments are so appreciated!!!!!!!!!!!!!]

~ Laura (a/k/a Bookworm)

WOYWW 192 | More Valentines

Heavy on pictures, light on words this morning. I've injured my right elbow (and I'm right-handed), so am having difficulties this week. Hope to go see the doctor today. I'll visit all who are kind enough to comment here, of course, but may not be able to manage more than that. Happy Wednesday, friends.

~ Laura

Update: I've seen my primary care doctor and had x-rays, which were not entirely conclusive. Possible small fracture, or possibility of the triceps muscle having pulled off the bone. I'm hoping there is some other possibility -- ha! I see someone in orthopedics this afternoon. 

Second update: The PA in ortho -- named Javier -- thinks I only have tendonitis! Hip, hip, hooray! So, I'm home from work today with a sling and a more robust anti-inflammatory medicine, feeling much more optimistic! Thanks so much for all your sweet comments -- you are the best.

WOYWW 191 | Making Valentines

Good morning! It's a very mild day here, especially for January. It's 47 degrees out, in contrast to last Wednesday when it was -10. If you feel so inclined, please join our WOYWW blog hop hostess, Julia, over at her blog for the scoop and a list of other folks around the globe who are also posting pictures of their desks today. 

I got out a bunch of Valentines stuff to make cards with -- doilies, stamps, dies, leftover bits from last year, such as punched borders and that red embossed piece half buried there. I die cut some hearts out of dictionary paper, stamped glossy cardstock, and cork. I like the look of the one cork heart I stamped on in the middle, but the other one looks like it has the chicken pox or something. lol I'm sure I'll find a use for it. 

Found a sweet pad of patterned paper on sale a few weeks ago. Really like the wood veneer embellishment trend, so have a little pile of hearts and arrows there. 

Made this card last week: washi tape, My Mind's Eye patterned paper, Hero Arts stamps, wood veneer, a bit of old ribbon, and the strip at the very bottom was a freebie from a vendor. 

Decided to use up some hoarded bits from the short-lived Girl's Paperie -- the background is a piece of patterned paper, letters, large heart & flower are all premade die cuts, and I added punched gold hearts.

This one, for Gabi, is tucked away in my desk drawer. She likes polka dots. :) I stamped with Versamark on glossy cardstock and then rubbed distress ink over the top for the background. Added doily, letters stickers, and a cork heart. 

Thanks for visiting! I'll visit everyone back who comments here, of course, and will try to do some other visiting as well.  Hope you're having a good week.

~ Laura

WOYWW 189 -- So, what's on *your* workdesk?

Happy WOYWW Wednesday! Forgive me for not including an actual table picture -- it looks identical to last week's, except that I cleaned up the stamps and put away the sketch pad and pastels. :) 

I was in the mood -- and was overdue -- for some cardmaking over the weekend. 

I made this card for a challenge . . . and then forgot to post it. Ah, well, I've got the first Christmas card of 2013 made, anyway! I printed a vintage Santa image (from the Graphic Fairy website -- great stuff there) onto dictionary paper, inked the card background, and used a Versamark pen & gold embossing powder to glam up the edges. The sentiment -- a TH stamp -- is gold embossed on a bit of vellum. 

This one is in the mail to my sister-in-law, late. I'd matched up the strips of paper on a piece of cardstock for this very purpose last summer and came across it serendipitously when digging around for something. 

The theme of the day seems to be quick and simple -- the card base is from Doodlebug, I'd already stamped the sentiment on the punched shape (sharp eyes will notice that I use this one constantly), and I used up this adorable sea horse sticker I'd been hoarding for, honestly, a good couple of years. So, so cute. I love sea horses. 


Another Doodlebug card base, already-punched-and-stamped-sentiment, bird sticker, and gems. This card and the previous one are for a nephew and niece birthday, respectively. 

Thanks for stopping by. I'm sorry I didn't get to more blogs last week. I'm trying hard to spend time with my daughter & husband evenings and weekends instead of being on the computer too much . . . but that severely cuts into my WOYWW blog hopping!!!

~ Laura

"Joy" Christmas card

May Flaum is throwing a party over on her blog -- a Camp Scrap holiday crafting party! I got the inspiration for this card from one of her ideas. 

I used a Post-it(r) note to mask off a square -- and added some temporary adhesive to adhere it down on the non-sticky sides. I inked with the bright green from the summer Distress ink colors, then misted with iridescent gold Glimmer Mist. (I forgot to take the mask off first and some of the mist soaked through -- oh, well!) I love these red foil Thickers and happily had the proper letters remaining to spell a useful holiday word. :)

Thanks for visiting!

Laura