Wednesday, December 9, 2020

SSS Love You Release Cosmo Stencil with Gouache


Hi all!  I've got something a little different for you today.  I'm guessing that at first glance you wouldn't think that I used a stencil to create this card, but that's exactly what I did.

I used the Cosmo stencil from Simon Says Stamp's new Love You release that just went live today.

I purchased some watercolor gouache paints quite a while ago, but hadn't had a chance to use them yet.  When I saw this stencil, I wanted to paint it, and thought gouache would be the perfect medium to use.

I started by lightly inking the stencil on some watercolor paper using Altenew Silver Stone ink.


This basically creates an outline/design for me to paint.  

I did this in segments, painting the background areas first, and then going in with three different shades of color for the flowers.  For the flowers, there was no real plan/pattern, I just tried to skip around a bit with my colors to keep things varied.  I started with the maroon color, painting random portions of the petals of all the flowers, followed that up with the red, and then the black.


The centers were painted with a very dark gray.  For the centers, I just dipped the end of my paintbrush into the paint and then onto the center of my flowers.

I really enjoyed working with the gouache.  I found it very easy to work with and very forgiving, and I like the more mattte/opaque look.  I also like how quickly the paint dries.  The painting isn't perfect, but I think it was good for a first outing.  Definitely looking forward to working with these again.  

I finished the card off with a simple sentiment from Simon Says Stamp's Healing Hugs set which was embossed on a a strip of black cardstock, matted with cardstock, and popped up with foam tape. 

That's all I have to share today, but be sure to head over to Simon Says Stamp to check out the rest of the release.

Thursday, December 3, 2020

November 2020 in Books

Hi all!  I'm a little late with this month's recap. Thanksgiving and Christmas decorating got in the way a bit, but better late than never.  This month's list is shorter than the last few...it's a bit skewed by the fact that well over half of the ones listed are kids books (still trying, and failing, to keep up with the girls) and one (The Henna Artist) was actually read last month, but I forgot to record it.  The 'adult' books this month were very good, but ones that required me to slow down a little, not a bad thing.  Here's the rundown:

Squirm - Carl Hiaasen - juvenile fiction - five stars - We're continuing to read through all Hiassen's kids animal themed books.  This story is about Billy Dickens.  His parents are divorced and he hasn't seen his dad since he was four, or heard from him at all.  His family moves frequently, always near a bald eagle's nest (his mother has a thing for eagles).  He happens across his dad's address in Montana, a nd decides it's time for them to meet again, so he embarks on a trip (he neglects to tell his mom that his dad doesn't know he's coming) and adventures ensue.  The plotline was a little more unbelievable than Hiassen's other books, but it's not terribly so, and you really like the characters.  Another winner.

The Last Palace: Europe's Turbulent Century in Five Lives and One Legendary House - Norman Eisen - non-fiction - four stars - I thought this was a really fascinating book.  It's a little dry and gets into the weeds early on, but definitely worth reading.  It's the story of a house built by a wealthy Jew named Otto Petschek after WWI.  It was his obsession, he spent years building it because he would change his mind, tear things down, build them back differently, change his mind again, etc.  It nearly ruined him financially, but he got it done, only to die a few years later.  Shortly after that, the family fled the country.  The book tracks the residents of the home, beginning with Petschek, including the German general assigned to Prague during WWII, and then U.S. ambassador Laurence Steinhardt following WWII.  Each of those individuals valued the building and did their best to preserve it during war, and to secure it, negotiating the purchase of the building following the war as the U.S. embassy.  Those machinations were fascinating, as was the later story of Shirley Temple Black who was ambassador to Czechoslovakia from 1989-1992, when she was on hand to witness the key events as the country turned away from communism.  Highly recommend if you love history. 

Medicine Walk - Richard Wagamese - fiction - five stars - This is one of those books I was talking about that made me slow down and really take in all the words.  I had previously read Indian Horse by this author and loved it and wanted to read some more of his work.  I was not disappointed.  Wagamese was a Native Canadian author and his books are so well written.  I love the way Wagamese writes, each word is chosen carefully and you really get absorbed into the writing.  This is the story of Franklin Starlight. He's been raised by an old man, and the man who is his father appears from time to time, never staying very long and usually hurting him in some way.  At the beginning of the book his father has asked him to come and see him.  He is dying, and he wants Franklin to take him to a particular spot to die.  Though torn, Franklin agrees, and as they travel, his father tells him the story of his life, how he got to be the way he is.  So well written, makes me want to read even more from Wagamese.

Bud, Not Buddy - Christopher Paul Curtis - juvenile historical fiction - four stars - This was another book that Ellie and I both read.  Bud lives in an orphanage in Flint, Michigan during the Depression.  He's sent to live with a family, but this doesn't work out, so he runs away, and decides to go looking for his father.  He has some clues as to his father's identity left from his mother.  I thought that the plot came together a little too easily, but I thought the book did a really good job of describing what things were like during the depression in a way that was understandable for kids.  

Property of the Rebel Librarian - Allison Varnes - juvenile fiction - two stars - I borrowed this book from Ellie because it sounded really interesting, but I was so annoyed by the ridiculous of it.  June is a middle schooler who loves books, she helps out in the library, the librarian is one of her favorite teachers at school.  Her parents discover her with a book they feel is inappropriate.  The result is they take all her books so that they can read them/determine if she can have them back, and they, with other parents in the school, do the same to the school library, gutting it and forcing the librarian out.  June is starved for books and sees a Free Little Library on her way to school which inspires her to create something similar at school in an old unused locker.  Meanwhile things at school get weirder as parents get more involved, cracking down on things. The premise of the book was interesting and I thought it would lead to some good conversation with Ellie, but it was so overblown and unbelievable.  Don't bother with this one.

Ungifted (Ungifted, #1) - Gordon Korman - juvenile fiction  - five stars - Another book for Ellie that we both really enjoyed.  Donovan Curtis is a bit of a prankster in middle school and when he inadvertently causes a huge accident at school, he knows he's in deep trouble.  But, due to a clerical error, instead of being punished he is enrolled in the school district's gifted academy.  He is totally out of his depth educationally, but he manages to endear himself with the kids in his homeroom becoming a real part of the team.  The story skips between the perspective of each of the individuals in the book, and I love how their perspective changes over time, how the addition of Donovan makes everyone better, including himself, when normally these kids would never interact at all.  Great book.

Guernica - Dave Boling - historical fiction - five stars - This is another of those books that I needed to slow down to read.  I loved learning about the history and the culture of the Basque people.  The book follows the Navarro family, tracing the history of the family, but really picking up just before the Spanish revolution, and how that affected the Basque.  Of course the bombing of the city by the Germans is covered as well as the aftermath.  I love these sweeping saga type books and reading about families from  generation to generation.  There were some really unexpected twists, and I loved how things ended.  Highly recommend.

The Bridge Home - Padma Venkatraman - juvenile fiction - five stars - Another Ellie book.  This was a really good, but sad book.  Viji and her sister Rukku, who has some kind of developmental disorder, live in India.  Over the years their father has regularly beaten their mother, but one day he takes his anger out on the girls and Viji decides they must run.  They go to Chennai, where they find that life is not so easy, but make friends with some other homeless kids and survive on the kindness of strangers, as well as their new friends who help them navigate the perils of the big city.  There is a lot of sorrow, but also hope, and a good look at what life is like for many in another country. 

The Mighty Miss Malone - Christopher Paul Curtis - juvenile historical fiction - five stars - This book is tangentially related to Bud, Not Buddy.  Deza Malone appears briefly in that story, and this book focuses on her.  She and her family live in Gary, Indiana and are just scraping by, but after a few difficulties, they are out on the street.  Deza's father sets out to find work, and she and her brother and mother end up in a Hooverville outside Flint.  Eventually her brother heads out too, and it is just Deza and her mother.  I thought the book did a good job showing how Hoovervilles functioned and how difficult it was to get out of that situation.  Ellie said she liked Bud, Not Buddy better, but this was my favorite of the two books.

The Canyon's Edge - Dusti Bowling - juvenile fiction/poetry - five stars - Another Ellie book.  It's about a girl named Nora.  She lost her mother to a shooting a year ago and since then her father has been overprotective.  She no longer goes to school, many things they used to do are deemed too dangerous, but her family loves the outdoors, hiking and rock climbing.  So on the anniversary of her mother's death, Nora's father takes her to a slot canyon to get away and do what they love best.  While there a flash flood separates them.  Nora is lost, alone, and needs to find her father.  She struggles with the dreams that have been haunting her all year as she searches and tries to survive.  The majority of the book is written as poetry, with the first and last few chapters as regular prose.  It's a quick and meaningful read. 

The Henna Artist - Alka Joshi - fiction - five stars - At 17, Lakshmi escaped from her abusive arranged marriage, she ends up in Jaipur, after having becoming a henna artist as well as a woman who provides other services - remedies to prevent or promote pregnancy, hair treatments, etc. etc.  She is doing well for herself and has earned enough to send for her parents, who she disgraced when she left home.  Little does she know, but her parents have died and the only one who remains is a sister born after her departure that she didn't even know existed.  Her sister comes to find her in Jaipur and begins to learn the trade as well.  I really liked this book.  I liked reading about Lakshmi's trade, part skill, part intuition, part confidante.  I liked how Lakshmi navigated all the difficulties of life in a caste system, and all the intrigue of the women she served.  Highly recommend.

Surviving the Forgotten Genocide: An Armenian Memoir - John Minassian - memoir - four stars - I've read several books on the Armenian genocide, and this one was another excellent book.  The author eventually emigrated to the U.S., and it's written in English.  Minassian talks about his family history and life before the genocide, there were always danger and unrest for the Armenians, but there had been an extended period of piece prior to the genocide.  He covers the complicity of the Germans in the genocide.  He was able teo escape to Aleppo where he helped many other Armenian refugees as they tried to avoid deportation.  Later, he left Aleppo and worked on the railroad during the war, ironically, under the protection of the Germans, many Armenians survived the war as railroad workers/laborers.  This was another slower read but an amazing story, and you just really came out impressed with the person Minassian was.

Miss Benson's Beetle - Rachel Joyce - historical fiction - five stars - In 1950 London, still trying to recover from WWII, Margery Benson, a home economic teacher/spinster experiences a mid-life crisis.  Life hasn't been good to her and she finally snaps, quits her job, and decides to pursue her life long dream, finding the golden beetle of New Caledonia which may be just a myth.  Margery who has never done anything remotely risky or strenuous embarks upon an expedition to New Caledonia with Ms. Enid Pretty, a woman she has never met who she hires as her assistant.  Enid is Margery's total opposite, but they become more than friends as the tackle each obstacle in front of them.  Throw in a shady background for Enid as well as a stalker for Margery.  There was a lot of unexpected in this book, much humor, but also a fair amount of sadness and tragedy.  Really well done book.

Anxious People - Fredrik Backman - fiction - five stars - I love everything that Backman writes, so I was really excited to see that he had a new book out.  The premise of this book is a bank robbery gone wrong.  A bank robber tries to rob a cashless bank, upon discovering there is no cash the bank robber leaves, fleeing the police, running into the nearest building and into a viewing for a condo, thereby providing the bank robber with a number of hostages.  And then we get into character development which I think is one of Backman's strengths.  He slowly lays out the background of each of the hostages, the bank robber, as well as the policemen who are working to resolve the hostage situation.  I thought the writing was a bit more circuitous than in Backman's other books, but not necessarily in a bad way.  It was a little train of thought, but helped you to get to know the people a bit better.  Really loved how the story hung together and was resolved in the end.

Spy School Revolution - Stuart Gibbs - juvenile fiction - fives stars - Our family loves the Spy School series, and has been waiting anxiously for this new book.  The book opens with Ben learning that because his family has been compromised, they need to go into the Witness Protection Program.  While meeting with his parents and breaking the news to them at CIA Headquarters, they ar attacked, by Erica Hale.  Ben then needs to determine why Erica would be attacking him, he believes some group must be forcing her to do so.  It turns out a shadowy group called Croatoan is indeed blackmailing Erica.  It's up to Ben, Mike, a nd Erica's mom Catherine to determine who Croatoan is and how to stop them.  Another great book, I really enjoyed the clever takes on history that Gibbs used as the basis for this one.

Lots of good reading this month.  My favorites were Medicine Walk and Guernica.  I'm currently reading The Paper Daughters of Chinatown which is really good, and next up is Bel Canto.  And I still have lots of the girls books to sprinkle into December also.  Please share what you have been reading!

Tuesday, December 1, 2020

SSS DIEcember release

Hi all!  Popping in today with a couple of super easy clean and simple projects using the new Bold Thankful Die from Simon Says Stamp's Diecember release.

I love long skinny tags, and when I saw this die, I thought it would be perfect for tags.  I cut some tag bases from white and Kraft cardstock that were 1 1/4" x 5".  

Then, I selected a bunch of pattered paper scrap pieces and die cut those.  This is a perfect way to use up those 2" scraps you get when you cut down patterned paper from a 6" x 6" paper pad for card fronts.

After adhering the die cut pieces to my tag bases, I added a hole at the top using my Crop-O-Dile and some twine and that was it.  These would be perfect for dressing up party favors/gifts.

I also wanted to create a card using the die, and ended up with this super graphic CAS design.  

To create the card, I use washi to tape together to pieces of cardstock.  Then I die cut that piece lining up the die over the seam.  I also die cut a piece of white cardstock.  The colored pieces were inlaid into my white cardstock frame.

Using the same colors of cardstock, I cut two panels, one 1 3/4" and the other 2 1/4" by 5 1/4".  These were adhered directly to my card base.  I used the color for the top of my inlaid letters on the bottom of the card base, and the other on top.

The die cut piece (which I popped up with foam tape) was then centered over top so that the seam between the cardstock panels lined up with the seam between the top and bottom the letters.

Really simple, but I love the effect.

Thanks for visiting, be sure to head over to Simon Says Stamp to see the rest of the Diecember release.  Lots of great new dies!

Thursday, November 19, 2020

More Oldies but Goodies

As promised, I've got a couple more Oldies but Goodies Christmas cards to share today.  This time I'm mixing and matching products from a bunch of different companies, but I've again stuck with the same basic formula for each of the cards.

I started by stamping my images on Neenah Solar White cardstock and coloring them with Copics.  Then I fussy cut around the top of the images, but left the bottom of the stamped image attached to the panel, kind of like faux partial die cutting.  Once that was done, I was ready to put together cards.

This first card features the Walter image from Purple Onion Designs.  He was colored with Cool Grays, and I used my trusty red combination (R22, R24, R29, and R39).  

I cut an arched frame from a piece of patterned paper using an MFT STAX die for the front of the card, and stamped/embossed some snowflakes on a panel of light blue cardstock using a stamp from Ellen Hutson's Abstract Paint Strokes stamp set.

The sentiment, from Neat & Tangled's Scandinavian Prints Christmas set was embossed on a banner from the Scalloped dies set.
The snowflake piece was adhered directly to my card base as was the little penguin, and the patterned paper frame and sentiment strip were popped up with foam tape.
The second card follows the same formula, but this one features an owl, Flora, also from Purple Onion Designs.  The owl was colored with Warm Grays and I used B32, B34, and B37 for the scarf, and E70, E74, E77, and E79 for the tree stump.

The snowflake were embossed on a piece of grout gray cardstock and instead of using patterned paper, I stamped a panel of kraft cardstock with The Stamp Market's Jumbo Plaid background using white pigment ink.
The sentiment for this one is from Neat & Tangled's Nativity Play set, and I used another of the banners from the Scalloped die set for it.

I still need a few more cards for the season, but I'm getting close to being done.  Still have lots of goodies in that stack of Christmas products that I pulled to work with and am looking forward to getting some more stamping done this weekend!

Wednesday, November 18, 2020

Oldies but Goodies, WPlus9 Holiday Hugs

Happy Wednesday!  Today I've got a couple cards featuring WPlus9's Holiday Hugs set.  This is one of my favorite WPlus9 images, and it's pretty easy to color.

These cards are basically the same design, but to keep things interesting, I switched up the color schemes  between them.

For my first card, I colored the bear with warm grays (W0, W1, W3), and the scarf/girl's outfit with R22, R24, R29, and R39.  I used E000, E53, and BV00 for the skin tone, and C5, C7, and C9 for her hair, and then die cut my image.

Embossing paste was spread through Simon Says Stamp's Falling Snow stencil on a piece of Cement Gray cardstock, and set aside to dry.

Meanwhile, I freehand cut a snowdrift, and stamped the sentiment on it.  

The dry stenciled piece and snowdrift were cut down to fit within a scalloped die cut panel, and adhered to the card base, and the colored image was popped up with foam tape.

For the second card, I went with cooler colors.  Instead of fully coloring the bear, I just added a thin line of color (N1) next to each of the stamped lines.  I used the same series of reds to color the bear's scarf, but the little girl's outfit was colored with B00, B12, B14, B06, and B18.  The skind was colored with E00, E21, and E95 and the hair with E13, E15, and E18.

The rest of the card was put together in the same manner as the first, but this time I used a light blue for the sky piece and a white scalloped panel.

The sentiment is from Neat & Tangled's Scandinavian Prints Christmas set.

That's all for today, but I have one more Oldies but Goodies post to share this week, see you tomorrow!

Tuesday, November 17, 2020

Oldies but Goodies , N&T Christmas Stamps and Stencils

Hi everyone!  I've been trying to be judicious in my crafty spending this year, and haven't bought many new Christmas sets.  Instead, I've been enjoying pulling out a lot of older product for my Christmas cards.  Today I used some older Neat & Tangled stamps and stencils.  

For my first card, I stamped one of the reindeer from the Oh Deer set in Gina K Amalgam ink, colored him with Copics, and then die cut.  

I cut a panel of kraft cardstock, die cut a circle to create a frame, and then spread embossing paste through the Fa La La stencil.

Once that was dry, I finished the card, by adding a snowflake print to my card base as well as a hand cut snow drift from a scrap of white cardstock.  

The reindeer was adhered on top of the snowdrift, and then the stenciled panel was popped up over top with foam tape.  I added a sentiment from Hello Bluebird's Typed Christmas set that was stamped on one of Neat & Tangled's Skinny Strips dies.

For this next card, I stamped, colored and die cut a few of the images from Neat & Tangled's Nativity Play set.  Then I went to work on the stenciled background.

I started by adding Dylusions Lemon Zest and Pure Sunshine Ink Spray to a panel of white cardstock.  Once that was dry, I spread embossing paste over the panel using the Radiating Star stencil, and set the panel aside to dry.

In the meantime, I added a bit of brown ink to a scrap of white cardstock to serve as the ground in my scene.  This was stamped with one of the sentiments from Neat & Tangled's Little Baby Jesus stamp set.  The first part of that sentiment was stamped on a white banner.

The brown frame was cut using an older My Favorite Things frame die.

Then it was just a matter of assembling everything.  The stenciled background and ground piece were adhered directly to the card base, everything else was popped up with foam tape.  

Hope you are all staying safe and healthy!

Thursday, November 12, 2020

Mama Elephant Whimsical Winter


This Whimsical Winter set from Mama Elephant is another one I pulled out the other day.  I really love the animals and the great pine tree in this set.  I created a bunch of cards last year using this set where I watercolored the images, but this time I thought I would pull out my Copics.  

The images were stamped with black Gina K Amalgam ink.  I used my MISTI to stamp them all at once, and then colored them while catching up on my DVR.  Then I created two groupings and set out to make them into cards using the same basic formula.  


This first card features a print from Lawn Fawn's Knit Picky 6x6 pad.  I also freehand cut snowdrifts into a scrap of white cardstock which I used for the bottom of the panel.  The images were adhered to the panel and then the entire panel was adhered to a scalloped die cut piece (from my retired Scalloped dies set).  


I finished things off with an embossed sentiment from Neat & Tangled's retired Nativity Play set.


The second card uses the same basic formula, except this time I used a journaling card for my patterned paper background.  I thought this journaling card was just perfect because that middle star becomes the tree topper.  I again cut a little snowdrift piece for the bottom of the card, this allowed me to essentially extend the card just a smidge so it fit in my scalloped piece better.  

The sentiment, from Hello Bluebird's Typed Christmas set was stamped directly on my snowdrift piece.


I added a simple green mat to set the panel off, and adhered it to another scalloped die cut mat.

Two more cards for my stack, and I've been coloring other cute images to put on Christmas cards which I can hopefully share with you next week!

Wednesday, November 11, 2020

PTI Sending Joy


We've officially reached the time of year where I start to panic because my Christmas card stash is not where it needs to be.  This means that I'll be sharing a lot of Christmas cards in the near future, and that whenever possible, I'll be trying to make multiples.

Today's cards feature Papertrey Ink's Sending Joy set.  Incidentally, this is currently on sale at PTI.  The set is perfect for quick, easy, one layer cards.  

I started by creating a 'master card' using kraft cardstock.  The gingham borders were stamped at the top and bottom of my kraft panel with Altenew Ruby Red ink and a stamp platform.  I knew I was going to make multiples, so I left the stamp in place.


Using a second stamp platform, I placed the small evergreen sprig, estimating where I wanted it to be based on the size of the joy sentiment.  This was stamped with Altenew Evergreen ink.  I then rotated the panel 180 degrees and stamped the small sprig again.

This step was repeated for both the large sprig and the trio of berries (also stamped with Ruby Red ink), so I got a mirror image of the cluster on both sides of my card.

Once that was done, I stamped the joy with Versafine and embossed it using Ranger Frosted Crystal Antiquities embossing powder.  

I really liked how the panel turned out, but wanted a bit of variation, so I pulled a couple of really subtle prints, and used the same layout to create two more cards.


For the second card, the gingham strip was stamped with Altenew Evening Gray ink, the rest of the inks remained the same.  I used that initial/master panel to place my elements when stamping the central portion of the card.  This saves you a bit of time and you don't have to be super precise, you can see that for this card my sprig ends don't touch as they did in the initial card.

This last card uses another print, a little bit busier, but still pretty subtle.  I went back to the Ruby Red for the gingham because I thought that would stand out better against the busier print.


These were super quick and easy to create and you can definitely mass produce them if you have all your panels ready to go at once.  They are nice and flat for mailing too!

Friday, November 6, 2020

SSS Holly Jolly Scattered Stars 3 Ways


Happy Friday!  

There's a new release at Simon Says Stamp, and I've got a few cards to share today using the new Scattered Stars stencil.  This is one of those stencils that you're going to reach for over and over again.  It's perfect for all sorts of occasions, and just the right size to add a little texture to any background.

As soon as I saw it, I knew I wanted to make some Christmas cards.  


For this first card, I created a festive starry background by simply inking the stencil three times over a panel of kraft cardstock using three different ink colors:  Altenew Evergreen and Ruby Red, and WPlus9 white pigment ink.  Each time I inked, I rotated/shifted the stencil.


The card was finished off with red mat and a simple joy stamped/die cut sentiment from Concord and 9th's Joyful Tiles stamp set that was popped up with foam dots.

Next, I created an ombre look on a panel of kraft cardstock using a couple of Dylusions Ink Sprays, London Blue and After Midnight.


Once my panel was dry, I placed the stencil over top and applied Wendy Vecchi embossing paste and set the panel aside to dry.

When I came back, I realized that because the Ink Sprays are water reactive, the color seeped into the embossing paste (this wasn't readily apparent when I first applied it).  


I love the look, but it wasn't reading Chirstmas to me, it was reading patriotic.  I added a simple matted sentiment from Altenew's Land of the Free set.  And that's how a Veteran's Day card ended up here in the middle of my Christmas cards.  

Last up, a super simple Christmas card.


I started by free hand watercoloring a rectangularish focal point.  I used a lot of water on the area, added very saturated color to the edges, and let the panel air dry to get this look.

Then I stamped the sentiment, from Simon Says Stamp's Holiday Greetings Mix I set in Versafine.

Next, I cut a mask to cover up the sentiment, and very very carefully applied embossing paste to the stencil.  I was being careful because I wanted to add stars all around the sentiment/panel, but I didn't want any too close to the edge of the panel.


I'm really happy with how this one turned out, and am thinking I'll create a few more of these before the season is over.

That's all for me today.  Be sure to stop by and see the rest of the release over at Simon Says Stamp!

Tuesday, November 3, 2020

A Smile on My Face and a Song in My Heart


This Happy Campers set was another of my recent My Favorite Things purchases.  This little fox playing the guitar put me over the edge.  Andrew is a guitar player and Ellie has recently started learning how to play.

I stamped the image with Gina K Amalgam ink, colored him with Copics, and fussy cut.  

I found a Studio Calico journaling card from my stash that created the perfect little burst to go behind him.  It actually has some words in the center of the star burst, but he covers them up perfectly.

The sentiment, also from the set, was stamped directly onto the journaling card. 


I used a variety of papers from my scrap bin to complement the journaling card.  

Lots more cute images from this set to come!

Saturday, October 31, 2020

October 2020 in Books


Another big month of reading.  I'm still hammering away at the ever growing pile of kids books that the girls are reading trying to keep up and not really succeeding, but enjoying chatting with the girls about the books once I finally get to them.  A lot of really good quick reads this month also and a couple duds.  My favorites this month are probably In Five Years, The Book of Lost Names, and The Devil and the Dark Water, full rundown follows:

Hoot - Carl Hiassen - juvenile fiction - five stars - The girls have gotten into these Carl Hiassen books, so you're going to be seeing more of these.  This one is about a boy named Roy who has just moved to Florida.  He's being bullied on the bus when he sees something odd out the window of the bus, a boy running top speed, on a mission, who he's never seen before.  Intrigued, Roy decides he needs to investigate. This leads to new friends, and a mission to save a whole bunch of really cute burrowing owls.  We all really enjoyed this one.

The Train to Impossible Places (The Train to impossible places, #1) - P.G. Bell - juvenile fiction - three stars - I had originally borrowed this from the library for Ellie.  She had a hard time getting into it, but I thought it was OK.  The Impossible Postal Express is how trolls deliver mail from world to world.  Due to an accident along the line, they've had to re-route it, right through Suzy's living room.  Normally she would sleep right through the event, but there was a mix-up with the prep crew and she didn't get doused with the sleeping powder.  Instead, she hitches a ride on the train and becomes a Deputy Post Master.  She's supposed to deliver a package to Lady Crepuscula, but the package begs her not to, and that sets of a chain of events/adventure.  The idea of the book was good, but in some ways it felt like fleshed out bits and pieces of a storyline with connections that needed more fleshing out.  While I enjoyed it, I'm not sure I'll be reading the rest of the series.

The Ventriloquists - E.R. Ramzipoor - historical fiction - three stars - I really really wanted to love this book.  It's such a great WWII story that takes place in Brussels.  The Nazi propaganda machine has gained control of the print media, including Le Soir, the most popular Belgium newspaper.  The resistance meanwhile has been churning out all sorts of resistance papers, which have attracted the attention of the Nazis.  They capture a number of resistance leaders and blackmail them into releasing a newspaper that is actually Nazi propaganda, but instead the resistance decides to pretend to comply, but instead release a 'faux Soir', a resistance version of Le Soir poking fun at the Nazis.  It's a really wonderful story, but it gets so bogged down in the minutiae, twisting plotlines, etc.  Just really need some good editing. I found myself getting bored and frustrated in the reading. 

In Five Years - Rebecca Serle - fiction - five stars - I really loved Serle's first book The Dinner List, and was excited to read this one.  Dannie Kohan has everything going for her, she nails an interview with her dream firm, her boyfriend proposes, she falls asleep thinkin everything is right with the world.  When she wakes up it's five years later, and she wakes up in a strange apartment with a strange man.  When she wakes up again, she's back in the present, but she can't shake that glimpse at the future.  Eventually she's able to move past it, mostly, but four and a half years later, she meets that strange man again.  It's a really interesting look at how solitary moments don't tell the whole story, and about the choices that you make, and friendship, and love.  I really enjoyed this one.

The Exiles - Christina Baker Kline - historical fiction - five stars - Loved this one, it's about the use of Australia as a penal colony, specifically the island of Tasmania previously known as Van Diemen's Island.  Evangeline, a governess who is found to be pregnant, is dismissed from her position and sentenced to transport to Van Diemen's.  On the ship, a repurposed slave ship, she meets many others, each with their own story as to why they have been exiled.  The story follows the ship's passengers after the reach Van Diemen giving readers a view of life in the penal colony.  A secondary storyline follows the journey of Matthina an orphaned aboriginal girl.  Her family had been relocated by the British when they colonized Australia, and she is then adopted by the Governor of Van Diemen's.  You can see her difficulty in adjusting to life with the British, how she has to change herself and how eventually she doesn't belong anywhere, not with her people, not with the British.  Such a good read.

The Royal Governess - Wendy Holden - historical fiction - four stars - The story of Marion Crawford, who accepts a position as governess for their Highnesses Elizabeth and Margaret Rose.  This one was OK, it's probably more of a three and a half that I rounded up.  I thought Crawford's background was interesting, she had actually wanted to teach kids in the slums, and the details of Elizabeth/Margaret's life were interesting too, especially how things changed once George became king.  My problem was that I just didn't really like Crawford that much.  After reading the book I did read a bit more about her and found out that after her time working for the royals, she wrote a book about it, and was ostracized from the royal family because of it.  Reading the facts of her life (from wikipedia) she's a sad figure - she cares for the royal children, doesn't have any of her own, has an unhappy marriage and is ignored by the royal family following publication of her book.  I think this book tried to make her a sympathetic character, but it fell flat for me.

One True Loves - Taylor Jenkins Reid - fiction - four stars - I've really enjoyed Jenkins Reed's books and thought I would try another.  I didn't love this one as much as the others, but it was a good read.  It's about Emma Blair who marries her high school sweetheart Jesse, they live an adventurous life, travel, and move far away from home (California from Massachusetts).  On their first anniversary,  Jesse disappears in a helicopter crash.  Emma's life is shattered, she leaves California and moves home and after a long grieving process finds love again.  She's engaged when Jesse calls, back from the dead.  It's an impossible situation.  The book shows Emma's past, how she and Jesse came to be as well as how she and Sam came to be, and the process of trying to determine how, and with whom, to move on after Jesse's return.  

Codename Zero (The Codename Conspiracy #1) - Chris Rylander - juvenile fiction - five stars - Because we loved Rylander's Fourth Stall series so much, Ellie and I decided to try another of his series.  This is another winner.  The book is about Carson Fender and prone to getting in trouble because he pulls a lot of pranks seventh grader in North Dakota who is thrust into the life of a spy.  He's given a package by a mysterious man and has to deliver it to one of his teachers.  He is not supposed to open it. Of course he does, and ends up working for a shadowy government agency to protect a student at his school in witness protection.  I thought the book was fun and clever and really liked the character of Carson.  This was a big hit with Ellie too, and as you'll see as you continue reading, we ended up finishing the series this month.

The Law of Finders Keepers (Mo & Dale Mysteries, #4) - Sheila Turnage - juvenile fiction - five stars - The final book in the Mo & Dale mysteries.  I really liked how they tied things together.  Mo, Dale, and Harm are on the hunt for Blackbeard's treasure after a treasure hunter comes to town looking for the same thing.  Meanwhile, the Colonel and Miss Lana share with Mo some clues about her past.  This puts her on the hunt for her upstream mother with real clues.  I really enjoyed how this book tied things up, a really good end to the series.  Carina agreed.

The Road to Dawn: Josiah Henson and the Story That Sparked the Civil War - Jared A. Brock - biography - four stars - The title of this book caught my eye first.  Henson was the very loose inspiration for Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom.  Henson's story is inspiring.  He was born into slavery, saw his father sold into the deep south and was auctioned off with his family after the death of his master.  A hard and conscientious worker, he became a trusted slave who increased the wealth of his masters.  He saw the writing on the wall though, knew he was going to be sold, and escaped with his family to Canada. There he helped found a community called Dawn aimed at educating escaped slaves and teaching them trades.  He was a strong advocate, speaking throughout the U.S. and even traveling to Britain to raise funds for the cause.  Josiah's story about growing up and escaping were fascinating. Less so the second part of the book dealing with the formation of Dawn and all the political struggles, and factions trying to control it, but definitely worth reading.

Finding Zsa Zsa: The Gabors Behind the Legend - Sam Staggs - biography - two stars - I thought this book would be a lot more interesting than it was.  There were definitely interesting bits, but it was a very dry read and at the end of the day, didn't really make me like the Gabors all that much.  The focus was on Zsa Zsa when I thought Eva was definitely the more interesting and talented of the sisters, and it definitely seemed very surface.  The Gabors tightly controlled their images, so if you're looking for a more intimate look at them, this isn't it.  Skip it.

Things in Jars - Jess Kidd - historical fiction/fantasy - five stars - This isn't my usual type of book, but it sounded interesting. Bridie Devine, a female detective in Victorian London is searching for Christabel Berwick, the secret daughter of Sir Edmund Berwick.  She's given very few clues with which to solve the case, and Christabel definitely seems to have unusual qualities.  Meanwhile you see those who've taken Christabel moving about, trying to sell her to the highest bidder as well as glimpses of Bridie's past.  All of these things eventually interest in the end.  While fantasy/science-fiction isn't my favorite genre, this wasn't super fantastical and did a really good job of walking the line between 'reality' and 'fantasy'.  Really enjoyed it.

The Westing Game - Ellen Raskin - juvenile fiction - four stars  - I liked the premise of the book.  Several families are brought together in an apartment building next door to the estate of Samuel Westing a wealthy recluse.  Westing dies and everyone is invited to the reading of his will in which a contest is announced, the group is divided into pairs and given clues, they must determine who killed Westing, whoever figures it out will win his estate.  The book was really interesting, but it kind of fell apart in the middle, just got a little too convoluted, I lost the thread a bit, and while the ending was fine, I feel like it needed tightening up.

The Chain - Adrian McKinty - mystery/thriller - five stars - I don't read that many books in this genre, but this was another book, in which the premise hooked me.  Rachel Klein receives a call after dropping off her daughter for school, her daughter has been kidnapped and the only way to get her back is to kidnap someone else's child.  Once that's been done, and she's paid a ransom, her daughter will be released.  This chain of kidnappings has seemingly gone on for years and there's no way out, those who have tried to buck the system have been disposed of.  Rachel works to get her daughter released, enlisting the help of her ex-brother-in-law.  Even once her daughter is released though, they don't have peace, the events haunt them. Rachel decides she needs to break the chain.  The narrative is interspersed with little scenes depicting how the chain was started.  You have to suspend your belief a little bit, but there is enough of 'what if' in the scenario that it makes for a really compelling read.

Countdown Zero (The Codename Conspiracy, #2) - Chris Rylander - juvenile fiction - five stars - The second book in this series, Carson who was deactivated at the end of the first book is pressed into service again to help rescue one of his teachers/fellow agents who is potentially trapped with a deadly virus in a secret government facility behind Mt. Rushmore.  Luckily, the class is heading to Rushmore for a field trip, and all Carson has to do is sneak away to perform the rescue.  It's another fun book, a couple of good twists and some humor too.  

Stay Interesting: I Don't Always Tell Stories About My Life, but When I Do They're True and Amazing - Jonathan Goldsmith - memoir - three stars - The only thing I know this guy from is the Dos Equis commercials, although he had been an actor for much longer than that.  The book is a seris of short stories/vignettes from his life.  I thought his growing up stories were the most interesting, the kiss and tell stories less so, and there were a fair amount of those.  The acting related stories were OK too, but I kept waiting for him to get to the part that he alludes to at the beginning.  How he had started a large successful company, but it ended up going under, and at the time of his audition for the Dos Equis commercials he was essentially living out of his truck.  Unfortunately that story never got told.  This was interesting, but just OK.

Lifeboat 12 - Susan Hood - juvenile historical fiction - five stars - Based on real events and written in verse, this is a great quick read that both Ellie and I really enjoyed.  It tells the story of the SS City of Benares, a passenger ship used during WWII to evacuate children from Britain to Canada.  It was hit by a torpedo en route and sunk.  Of the 90 children on board, only 13 survived. The boat follow the journey of Ken, telling us of his life before he left, of the fun he had on board the ship, and then of the sinking and survival.  It's a pretty amazing survival story because Lifeboat 12 was overlooked in the initial rescue operation, the rescue ship mistakenly counted one of the lifeboats from the other ships in the formation as from the SS City of Benares.  The lifeboat drifted for eight days before they were found.  Definitely worth the read.

The Things We Cannot Say - Kelly Rimmer - historical fiction - five stars - If you like WWII historical fiction, this was a really good one.  Allice's grandmother Hannah is dying and wants her to go to Poland.  She's suffered a stroke, so can't communicate clearly, Alice leaves behind a difficult family situation (strained marriage, child on the spectrum) to go and try and uncover what her grandmother is so desperate for her to know.  The story jumps back and forth between the story of Alina a young girl growing up in Poland engaged to her childhood sweetheart Tomasz in 1942 and the present day.  The stories eventually come together.  While it's a bit predictable, it's very well done and there are surprises along the way.  Definitely worth the read.

The Vanderbeekers Lost and Found (The Vanderbeekers, #4) - Karina Yan Glaser - juvenile fiction - four stars - Ellie and I both really enjoy this series.  The characters are fun and you just grow to love the family.  This episode deals with the decline of Mr. Jeet as well as Orlando's family difficulties.  There were some good lessons in friendship - overstepping bounds, poor communication, etc.  This wasn't my favorite of the books.  The concerns/problems are real, but I feel like the manner in which they were solved was not necessarily the most realistic, but still love the family and the characters.

The Book of Lost Names - Kristin Harmel - historical fiction - five stars - Another really great WWII novel, this one is about Eva Traube, who flees Paris with her mother, ending up in a small town in the free zone.  She puts her artistic skills to work and becomes a forger, creating documents to aid the resistance, but in particular documents for young Jewish children being smuggled across the border to Switzerland.  After the war, Eva has hidden this part of her past away until one day she sees a newspaper article that opens up the past again.  This one is also based on real events, and is a fascinating look at the occupation of forger, how they founds names to use, the documents that were required - not just IDs, but also supporting documents people needed in order for their identities to be deemed authentic.

The Devil and the Dark Water - Stuart Turton - historical fiction/mystery - five stars - I so loved Turton's first novel, The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle, and was really excited to see that he had another book out.  This one is very different, telling the story of Sammy Pipps and  his assistant Arent, famed investigators who are returning to Amsterdam from Batavia.  The ship it seems is cursed, with strange happenings, murders, livestock being killed, strange whispers, etc.  Unfortunately, Sammy has been accused of a crime and is being taken back to be tried and so is imprisoned in the belly of the ship.  It's up to Arent, with the help of some other on board, to discover what is happening.  This was one of those books that kept me guessing, I couldn't figure out if we were veering into fantasy, or if something else was at play.  Really loved it!

Chomp - Car Hiaasen - juvenile fiction - four stars - Wahoo's dad is an animal wrangler.  Work isn't necessarily steady, especially when you've had medical issues, so the family is struggling financially.  Enter Expedition Survival! a reality series whose star is not actually particularly good at surviving.  The show wants to tape an episode focused on the Everglades and hires Wahoo and his Dad to help out, they use some of their animals, and then take them on location.  Tuna, a girl from Wahoo's class with a difficult home life comes along to get away from her father for a while.  This one wasn't as successful for me as Hoot was.  It's definitely entertaining and the girls loved it, but it's a little more out there/slapstick.  Still a fun read though.

Crisis Zero (The Codename Conspiracy, #3) - Chris Rylander - juvenile fiction - four stars - The final book in this series.  I enjoyed this one as well, although it was pretty predictable.  This time Carson's school is under attack - someone is trying to dig down through the parking lot and destroy the agency's secret headquarters, and there's a computer program so powerful it could basically take over the world, that needs to be protected.  While it's not like the previous two books were particularly realistic, this one veers off a lot more into the improbable, but it was a pretty good way to end the series.

Currently I'm reading The Last Palace, about the building that now serves as the U.S. embassy in Prague.  Next up are Guernica and Medicine Walk.  I've been reading a ton of kids books lately and also fiction, and I'm thinking I need to balance things out with some more non-fiction.  Would love to know what you guys have been reading!

Thursday, October 29, 2020

So Excited to See You!

I've been wanting this Adorable Adventures set from MFT since it came out, but I've been trying to be good, so had held off.  Last week it was marked way down as one of MFT's Blitzday Steals and I couldn't wait any longer.

I wanted to use the little girl waving figure first and also colored a couple of the bushes and the rocks to go with her.  Then I fussy cut my images.

I have all my scrapbooking supplies out still, so I picked a journaling card for my background.  This one is from Felicity Jane.  I think one of the reasons I like using journaling cards as backgrounds for my stamped/colored images so much is that it takes a lot of the work out of creating a background.  Normally I'd fuss about adding more scenery or blending, but here the journaling card does all the work for me.

The sentiment, also from the set, was stamped directly on my journaling card.  I actually cut the sentiment as it appears all in a row, but I wanted the two parts stacked over one another.  I'm always a little wary about cutting apart my stamps, but I'm becoming more open to it.

I added a few little offset mats and then adhered them to my main mat at an angle.

Hoping your week is going well!  

Tuesday, October 27, 2020

I'm Here for You



I was reminded the other day (when Sandy Allnock created this card) that I had purchased this set, Elliot & Marcel - Feeling Blue? from Purple Onion Designs a while back and hadn't yet used it.

I love this image and wanted to try creating a very dramatic one layer card.

I started by stamping the image on a panel of Neenah Solar White cardstock.  I then stamped the image on some Inkadinkadoo Masking Paper, fussy cut it, and placed it over my image.  I also used some Post It tape to create a ground line, masking off the bottom of my stamped panel.

Then I used blending brushes to ink the background.  I started by adding just a bit of yellow behind the monkey using Citrus Twist from Altenew.  For the majority of the background, I started with just Black Soot Distress Ink, but I wanted a richer, deeper  black, so I also used liberal amounts of Dusty Concord.

Once I was happy with the background, I removed the Post It tape and shifted it to cover the top portion of my card which I had just inked.  I added a second strip for good measure, and then inked the botto of the card using just the Black Soot Distress Ink using a lighter hand than for the top of the card.


Then it was time to color my image.  

I used Neutral Grays for the elephant (N1, N3, N5, and N7), and the E20s (E21, E23, E25, E27, and E29) for the monkey.  

I had not masked off the little bow on the monkey's tail since I knew the inking would be lighter there, and that was colored with R89, R24, and R22.

The sentiment is from the same set.  

I don't do one layer cards very often (mostly because I don't like to mask), but there was minimal masking required for this one, and I love the big impact you get from both the background and that large image itself.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Thursday, October 22, 2020

Simple Things


The Hooray Kind of Day set from Stacey Yacula for My Favorite Things has been in my to use pile for a while, and I finally inked it up.  There are several really cute images in the set, but this little foxing pulling the wagon is my favorite.

He was stamped with Gina K Amalgam ink and then colored with Copics.  I used Warm Grays (W5, W3, W2, and W0 (I can't seem to find my W1!)) for the fox, and R37, R35, and R32 for the flowers, and G28, G24, and G20 for the leaves.  The pot was colored with E09, E15, and E11, and the wagon with E59, 57, and E55.

Once the coloring was done, I fussy cut the image.

I am a bit of a journaling card hoarder.  I have them for scrapbooking and love them, and I try and work them into my cardmaking from time to time.  This simple little peachy pink frame card from Studio Calico seemed perfect for my fox.


Next step was finding the right sentiment.  There were a few that I found, but this one from The Greetery's Simple Things set seems to perfectly balance the card as well as the image.

I couple of patterned paper mats finished things off.  

Tuesday, October 20, 2020

More Circle Backgrounds - Faux Watercolor

I've been pulling on this solid circle image thread lately.  A couple weeks ago I created a circle background for a Pinkfresh card by free hand watercoloring circles.  Last week, I used solid stamp images to create backgrounds, and today I'm blending the two techniques, using a solid stamp to create a faux watercolor background with Distress Inks.

These backgrounds were all created using the medium sized circle image from Ellen Hutson's Wonky Backdrops set.

This technique is basically this:  I stamped the image with Distress ink, spritzed it once with water, stamped it off on a scrap piece of watercolor cardstock, spritzed it again, and then stamped onto my watercolor panel.  I spritzed it again with water and then stamped a third time on my watercolor panel.  Each time you spritz/stamp the image gets less saturated.  I wanted a lighter look with more variegation in the look so except for the second card shared below, I didn't use the initial stamping with is much more saturated.

The process is so quick and easy and makes some lovely card backgrounds.  For this first card I just created a nine by nine grid using Chipped Sapphire Distress Ink.

Once dry, I stamped a sentiment from an old Studio Calico set I have with Versafine, and embossed with Ranger Frosted Crystal Antiquities embossing powder.

The finished panel was popped up over my card base with foam tape.

Next, is the card where I did use the initial spritzing for my panel.  Note, when creating these panels, I did not wait for anything to dry.  The stamps are very wet/saturated when you stamp, so they haven't fully dried when you stamp the next time.  I really enjoyed the play between the circle images where the ink blends from one circle to the next.  This card again uses Chipped Sapphire Distress Ink.

In this detail shot you can see pretty clearly in the first row the difference between the first, second, and third spritzing/stamping.  

I trimmed the panel down and constructed a sentiment using The Stamp Market's Skinny Upper Alpha dies as well as part of a sentiment from Neat & Tangled's Typed Sentiments set which was embossed in white on a black banner and popped up with foam tape.  The 'YOU' is three layers, one a dark gray and two layers of watercolor cardstock.  The finished letters were adhered directly to the panel.  I think using the gray for the first layer helps to set the letters off a bit more.

For this next card,  I switched over to Dusty Concord Distress Ink

After creating my four by three grid, I trimmed the panel down and finished it off with Altenew's Waterbrush Hello die.  This was cut three times, adhered together and then to the panel.

Super quick and easy.  This hello might be my favorite hello die!

This is a really fun technique where you get unique results every time.  No two panels will ever look exactly alike, which is something I love.