Unfrogettable...

 My Oh My!  Craft Roulette this week...  As tempting as it was to pull out a new stamp set, or something fairly new...that "Hopping" parameter, with "Strawberry Fields" colors...was almost too easy to create with, that it made it hard for me.  I truly had a vintage strawberry patterned paper picked out, along with my Velveteen Rabbit stamp, all ready for me to color and go to town with.  BUT BUT BUT....as much as I tried to get the vibe with it...my mood was needing something a little more bright and cheerful, I've had a couple of emotionally draining weeks, and vintage was only making my mood worse.

So bring on the cheer.... 

 I knew I had lots of hopping options...that wasn't the issue.  And so many hopping creatures can be found in a strawberry field.  Nothing says I even had to have strawberries in the equation, after all, it's just the COLORS found in the strawberry field that was the requirement.  It doesn't even need to be the whole field of colors.  It could have been brown for dirt, blue for sky, green for berry baskets, etc...  That being said, once the word strawberry was mentioned, I really couldn't get it out of my mind.  I have options for the patterned paper, (I have TONS of Graphic 45, which this isn't, but...anything in nature, G45 is my go to when I'm in a creative rut...) I have strawberry stamps...(how powerful the feel to press a stamp into the ink and stamp away...)...  I just wasn't getting the bunny vibe...so, next thought was grasshopper......  My grasshopper is vintage (Creative Keepsakes)... so, I almost nixed doing this week altogether.  Lots of ideas, but nothing triggering that creative spark, and it was getting gloomy.   

Last thought...FROGS.  I knew I had a couple of options there, right?  Well....not really...as I hunted through my stamp stash...I couldn't find any frogs, although I KNEW I had a set from my Stamping Up! days...  YIKES...going through that cabinet of unorganized wood mounted mountains of stamp sets....did NOT sound fun...  I had a general idea of where to look...right?  WRONG...WRONG...WRONG...  I found all kinds of treasures in there though, (reaffirming that NO PARAMETER is undoable...I am convinced)...  hahahahaha  ...  I FINALLY found my frogs not in the cabinet, but a drawer...and my first thought...THESE LOOK SO EASY TO FUSSY CUT!!!  That's all it took, and I started coloring away....

 

 I found a bonus "Hello" stamp for my inside element...another from the SU days, never been mounted on the wood...which I still have ALL my sets on wood, or possibly someday put on wood.  It's sad how many I never used...ever....  

 

 So, this card is done and ready to go.  My goal this year, is to actually mail some of these cards out.  What's held me back, is that the insides aren't finished, and it's not my style to send out a naked card.  Nothing elaborate on the inside, but a finished look here!  And a double whammy of both the Project and Random parameters!

 Well, it's Thursday night, and it all starts again tomorrow!  This time, I have zero office (oh the joys of self employment) obligations lined up, I can let loose and let my creativity come out to play.  It's times like this, I really miss my CR bff.  (RIP Janet)... Now, off to cut up some strawberries to go with that half and half I picked up at the grocery store the other day! 

  

Inka Dinka Doo....

 Inka Dinka Doo ... whatever that means ... haha ... 

I pictured myself, in a coconut house, hidden in the jungle.  Yep, that would be a mighty fine time...eating bananas and sipping on those fun bevvies that include tropical fruits served in a coconut shell.  I remember a time that my husband and I enjoyed the warm sun bouncing off the ocean in Mazatlan...sitting on a brick fenced ledge that is nestled up against the resort area grass where the sand meets, holding one of those drinks, little umbrella included.  We were all of 30 years old, not sure how our bodies would be on that ledge now!  hahaha  I'm sure the sandy beach is still as beautiful as ever.

Happy times.  I really hope my cards give the feeling of Happy today... we all need a little Happy.

I made my coconut house using a square die.  I cut 2 squares out, cutting one into 3/4" strips.  My coconut fringe was created using a  Multi Blade Herb Scissors on each strip, and then applying to the remaining square die cut, overlapping as shown.  I purchased the scissors 20+ years ago, probably for my home made salsa, but borrowed them from the kitchen for a craft project.  I later bought a second pair for my cilantro needs, and kept my original pair in my craft studio.  Priorities here.  Being totally honest, I haven't used either much, but when I needed fringe, or finely chopped herbs, I was glad I had both close by.  One  worked great for the pinata card I made years ago, and a paper hula skirt too, plus we eat a ton of home made salsa.  (I get impatient and use a sharp knife more often)  
 

Another fun supply, that I have been asked about is my paper crimper.  This is a great little tool, especially on "x amount of folds" Craft Roulette parameter nights.  Using it adds interest to a matte background, and it's fun to run the paper through the little gadget.  It's kind of liberating.  I have to admit, I'm on my second crimper.  I bought my first one, probably yet still in the 90s (Fiskars brand).... It finally had it's last crimp, I may have crimped too fierce using a very thick piece of card stock,...so I immediately bought another.  That tells you something, how much I value my crimping, to purchase a replacement.  I can guarantee, I have a handful of tools, that IF they ever gave out, I'd never replace.  Three words:  Fastenator (&) Sew Easy (the first is the equivalent of an evil stapler and the other...well, it made it's way to the garbage...) 

 

Here's another example of crimping! 

 

My last card is a bit nostalgic and will resonate with video game enthusiasts...  I left it to where you add whatever name you want to on the inside of the card...  It could be after a famous gorilla, or it can be whoever you want!  I let the designer paper do a lot of the work here too.  The 80s vibe and popular video games....I never could master that game to the end, but oh how I tried.

 

 In summary...my take on the new  Barrels of Fun stamp set and the 80s patterned paper.  Both are available tomorrow along with a few other fun finds with the Kindred Stamps April Release.

 

So, I hope this post is a feel happy post, as it's meant to be.  I think anyone who receives a card with any of these characters, even the Cranky one, could find a smile, and hopefully trigger a feel good memory...

 

In the words of  Mayou Angelou:

 

"I've learned that people will forget what you said,

people will forget what you did,

but people will never forget how you made them feel." 

I hope this is a feel good moment!

Bye for now!  :) 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 INKA DINKA DOO!!!

 

 

 The rest is off topic sort of...if interested...read on...

 

A little added bonus today because it somewhat relates to one of the supplies I used (scissors)(topic)...

 

My specialty food business of 40 years now,  introduced and launched a line of spices to compliment our wine vinegars.  The seasonings were my personal creation, and at 23 years old...I invested in about $3000 worth of spices and supplies (I must have really felt they would be a success, that's a lot of money for a kid) ... yikes... the investment was worth it, as we went on to manufacture and distribute a line of spice blends that proved to be worth the financial risk.  Over the years, our business focus has adapted to the changes in the economy, personal tragedy and personal celebrations too, plus business growth, etc.,  we repositioned our product line and mainly do high volume corporate chocolate orders.  (I'd share the names of a few of these well known companies, but I have signed many an NDA and know better than to!)   That being said, it's possible, we might bring a few things back, including this insanely popular product, but most likely on a smaller, retail scale, rather than widespread distribution.  Anyhow, (keeping this craft related)  my multi blade scissors aren't needed when using this fun blend.  All the fine chopping is already finished...so, on the go...just one tablespoon of spices with 2 small diced tomatoes, maybe a little diced onion too...is all you need for a quick batch of salsa....

Just a lil tidbit of info about our company, which has stood the test of time since the 1960s!  

 

Stay tuned ....  If, we do bring a few of the blends back, this one for sure made the cut!  :)

Jogging Path, Jogger Pants, and Juniper Trees!

 Stretchy pants for my J element?  Could be, but truly, the path here very much could be a jogging path in a park, and on a nice June Day...our joggers might like to enJoy a sit on a tomato colored blanket.

 It's pretty easy to justify parameters when you need to!  :)

 

I chose to use a stamp with a bridge on it, although, I did want to make a "bridging" type card.  I just knew I wasn't going to have access to my craft supplies, and so I chose to stamp my image and color where I was at...(comfy in my living room chair, watching baseball...and spending time with my precious boy, our pooch, who is feeling lonely without his other human, who has been reffing big qualifying out of town volleyball tournaments!!!)  My salad colors:  I have to laugh, my kiddo used to call broccoli "trees" and asparagus "grass" (well, asparagus lingo ... it is called grass) ...but, he told someone once that his Mom fed him trees and grass...lol...anyhow, so I had to throw that in there.  But, the greenery in this card, truly is salad colors, even with some silverware, blanket tomato red, and cheese colored windows.  So J.....I see a JOGGING PATH, I see JOGGER PANTS on a couple of our people here, and the trees...well, who says they aren't JUNIPER trees.  I came oh so close to freehand drawing a tiny JET AIRPLANE...but, after all this fussy cutting (3 layers of dimension here)...I wasn't about to botch it up.  Lastly, I swiped my markers on the grass and the sky.  I LOVE this technique, I love playing with markers!  I used a very inexpensive purchase of a 100? markers or so of cheap alcohol markers.  Except for the tip being a little too fat, I actually LOVE coloring with these markers.  I went out of the lines a little on my windows, but...that's ok, the whimsical look works here, I see it often done by the professionals, so...imitation is the ultimate flattery!  hahahahaha  It's OK to color out of the lines!!!

 Well...til next week!  :)