Rain or Shine ...

It's been a dismal, drizzly week in northern Minnesota. At least two mornings this week, however, I've walked outside and thought, "Oh good, the weatherman was wrong," only to have what was a beautiful, sunny morning turn grey, cold, and windy by 10 a.m. It was like Mother Nature was teasing me.

Anyway, the rain inspired my card. I kind of mixed it up with the coloring techniques, using colored pencils, a marker, and my blending pen and an ink pad for the shading. I probably overdid it with the shading, but after deciding to leave my chicken white, I kept thinking she needed "more." As you can see, I paper pieced her umbrella. As for the sentiment, I did it on the computer and then cut it out with a rectangular Nestabilities die. Because I didn't want to mat sentiment, I embossed the die and then, using the die as a stencil, added a little Sweet Leaf ink with a sponge dauber. While you can't see it very well, I used a new EK Border punch on the Sweet Leaf cardstock. I think its called Dots and Lines. It cuts out the tiny dots and embosses a line in between the rows of dots. It's kind of cool but because the dots are so small, a bugger to match up. There wasn't much room for embellishments, so I just added a little ribbon tab and declared the card finished.

Materials & Tools: White Daisy, Cocoa, and Sweet Leaf cardstock; Magic Moments paper packet; Black, Sweet Leaf, and Twilight ink pads; Sweet Leaf marker; Whipper Snapper Designs Springtime Rain Chick; Sweet Leaf Designer Ribbon Rounds; Winter Cozy Mini-Medley Accents; Prismacolor colored pencils; Gamsol odorless mineral spirits; Blending stumps; Dove blending pen; Black My Legacy Writer; EK Success Dots and Lines Edger punch; Cuttlebug w/Nestabilities Classic Rectangles set; Sponge dauber; 3M foam mounting tape.

I have no aches and pains to tell you about today. They disappeared during the night. Yea! The car ride should be fine. As Cameron didn't have daycare today, we are kept the boys so he could work a half-day. He'll pick Mathias up at noon, and we'll drop Bjorn off at school on our way out of town. I was happy to have the opportunity to talk to Dustin last night. He's been in Albuquerque on business this week. When he called last night, he said he was standing on the top of a mountain and that the scenery was indescribable. With business complete, they are going to spend the day sightseeing before flying home tonight. No, I'm babbling and have stuff to do, so I'd better sign off.

I hope you have a wonderful weekend. I have cards that will post tomorrow and Sunday, providing everything works! Enjoy! Later ...