Tattered Sparrow

I am not certain I am loving this card, my take on Unscripted Sketches #48. I made the mistake of turning on the news when I got home from work, and I believe it zapped the mojo right out of me. All I wanted to do after I’d listened for a few minutes was go to bed and pull the blankets over my head. I did just that for about 15 minutes but luckily, did not fall asleep. That would have just ended up adding to my woes, as surely, I would have been bright-eyed and bushy-tailed come 2 a.m.

About my card, I wanted to use my new sentiment stamp one more time with the Tattered Sparrow stamp by Tim Holtz. I love it even though it lends itself to more artiness than I am capable of. The bird is stamped with Desert Sand. I used my script stamp again in the background with the Bamboo ink that I also used to ink around the edges. The sentiment is stamped with Cocoa ink and might have looked better had I stamped it smack dab in the middle. The glare from the flash on the camera spoiled the affect of coolest thing about my card – the two Antiqued Copper photo corners that I put together to create a square embellishment. That was the most genius thing I did all day. LOL.

Materials & Tools: Colonial White, Desert Sand, and Cocoa cardstock; Bamboo, Desert Sand, and Cocoa ink pads; Tim Holtz Tattered Sparrow stamp; Verses Wings of Your Dreams stamp; Close To My Heart Air Mail (retired) stamp set; Antiqued Copper Mini-Medley Accents Collection; Chocolate Bigger Brads; Sponge dauber; Sanding block; 3M foam mounting tape.

I may try this sketch again. I have a vision for something brighter, more cheerful. After all, it was a beautiful day with temperatures if they didn’t reach 70 degrees were very close. I didn’t wear a coat this morning and went outside on both my breaks and at lunchtime to soak up some Vitamin D. The only not-so-good thing today was a rather boring 90-minute meeting in a room that had to have been 85 degrees. Dressed in a sweater, blazer, denim capri pants, and suede boots, I thought I would faint or worse, start pealing off my clothes and embarrass myself.

Back to the merits of the day, I had a half-hour call from my son as he was driving home from the Twin Cities this evening. He’d had a wonderful, very informative day and is so excited about the prospects of his new career path. I also had a few minutes with my grandsons this afternoon before their dad and Sarah picked them up after work.

Albeit bleak news on TV and the urge to strip, my day was a good one as I hope yours was. Enjoy your Wednesday! Later …

It Sings Because It Has a Song ...

Here's one more Tattered Sparrow card, the result of my wondering how it would look stamped as a background. I like it.

As for the sentiment, I love it. It speaks to me about why I stamp. I'm not a "great" stamper. In fact, I've seen cards made by women who picked up their first stamp six months ago that far outshine anything I've ever done. No, I don't stamp because I'm the best or aspire to be the best. I stamp because I love it. I share it with you for the same reason. And surely, there are no answers on this blog - It's just a little piece of me.

Curious, I wanted to know who authored the words of this sentiment I love so much. I thought they sounded like Maya Angelou, and while I discovered they have been attributed to her, it seems they also appear in a motivational book by Lou Holtz. Who said these words first does not appear to be a known fact. Oh well, I love 'em anyway.

As for my card, it was pretty simple. The stamp is a rubber stamp on cling mount, so while I could pretty much see where I was stamping, I had to take a little extra care in lining up the edges of the image. Additionally, I planned it out so that the entire image would be visible one time. Tiny self-stick pearls adorn the corners of the sentiment, which was adhered to the card using foam mounting tape.

Materials & Tools: Colonial White, Bamboo, and Black cardstock; Black and Bamboo ink pads; Tim Holtz Tattered Sparrow rubber stamp; Impression Obsession Birds of a Feather stamp set; Black chiffon ribbon; Kaiser Kraft pearl accents; Cuttlebug w/Nestabilities Classic Rectangles set; 3M foam mounting tape.

Another day. Another dollar ... or two. As I predicted, it was busy. Tonight, I've got several things on my "to do" list and best get to them while I still have a little energy. I hope to stop back later with a couple of things I want to share. Between now and then, thanks for stopping by ... Enjoy your evening!

Tattered Sparrow

Before I tell you about my card, I need to retract the statement I made in my last post about ink not sticking to the set of stamps I used on my last card. Out of curiosity, I tried the new stamps using an ink pad from Papertrey Ink. The image was perfect. Then, I tried a couple different colors from Close To My Heart. Again, the images were flawless. For whatever reason, they don't stamp well with Tulip ink, and as that is what I was using at the time, I became frustrated. While I believe the statement about all polymer not being created equal to be somewhat true, I can't say I've had a lot of problems with stamps from the various companies. Once they're seasoned (and some stamps require more seasoning than others), most polymer stamps, providing the etching is deep enough, provide a clear image. A stamper long before polymer stamps were invented, I still have an appreciation for images produced by rubber stamps, too, even though they clearly (no pun intended) are not as easy to use.

Now, about my card. It was made in stages between games of Cootie, Memory, and Hide the Thimble with Mathias. The focal point image - rubber on cling mount - is by Tim Holtz. While I love the look, I wasn't sure what to do with it at first. Most certainly, it isn't a stamp to be used with anything "cute." The background I created for it just kind of evolved. I used a variety of stamp sets and Black, Bamboo, and Desert Sand ink pads. The antiquing was done using the direct-to-paper technique. I like the way it turned out and wouldn't mind random stamping a couple of 12x12-inch sheets of Bamboo cardstock like this just to have around.

Materials & Tools: Colonial White, Bamboo, and Black cardstock; Black, Bamboo, and Desert Sand ink pads; Tim Holtz Tattered Sparrow rubber stamp; Inkadinkado Butterflies & Birds, Stampendous Flexible Friendship Wishes, and Close To My Heart Air Mail (retired) and Lovely Lace stamp sets; Pewter photo clips and mini brads; Stampin' Up Word Window punch.

I had a lovely afternoon with the boys. We did a little laundry and played some games. A current favorite, "Hide the Thimble" isn't a purchased game but rather one I played with my grandma when I was a little girl. Mathias and I don't use a thimble but rather a small object of his choosing. Today it was a Cootie leg. The game simply involves taking turns leaving the room while the other person hides the object and then taking turns finding it. If you're close to the object, you're "hot" and if you're on the wrong side of the room, you're "cold." Words such as warmer, cooler, freezing, and on fire come up in the conversation, too. It took Mathias a while to catch on to the hot/cold concept, but I noticed he had it down pat today. So often when I'm playing with the boys I remember the special times I had with my grandma. I hope my little ones have similar memories someday.

Did you have a good weekend? I hope so. With another busy workweek ahead of me, I'm going to turn in early tonight. Have a good week, my friends ...