Creativity, Crafts, Books, Movies, Greyhounds & Favorite Things

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Since I frequently “showcase” the handmade cards I make at my two card clubs, I thought it would be interesting to show you a clever little machine I use for most of the cards we make…the Big Shot Die-Cutting Machine by Sizzix. Here are some of the things it can do:

Emboss

Using an embossing folder, you can add a raised texture design to a piece of paper.

Die-Cuts

Using dies, you can cut a perfect shape.

Emboss and Cut

Using these clever little Embosslits folders, you can cut and emboss at the same time.

If you enjoy papercrafting, this is a very versatile machine.

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Guess who’s a “birthday girl” on June 20th? Nikki! Nikki will be 6 years old. Here’s a little tribute to my girl:

N – Noble

Nikki has such a gentle and stoic nature. Like most Greyhounds, it gives her an air of nobility. Of course, the classic lines don’t hurt either.

I – Ideal

Nikki truly is the perfect dog. She never does anything wrong. Ever. She doesn’t give me much blog material, but you couldn’t have a better dog.

K – Kind

Nikki is the gentlest dog I have ever met. I know “kind” is a human adjective, but I think it fits Nikki’s spirit.

K – Kissable

Nikki has a sweet face that I love to kiss. You just have to be careful because Nikki will kiss back.

I – Inaccessible

Nikki had a hard past. Although I believe with all my heart that we can overcome and flourish in spite of what happens in our lives, I also believe the events add up and sometimes change who we might have been in a perfect world. I believe that is true of Nikki. There is something inaccessible with Nikki. What has it taught me? That I need to look for those who hang back and extend myself to them…to look beyond the surface. I don’t know what is in a person or animal’s past; I can only be a kind and gentle influence in their present and future.

Happy Birthday, my sweet little girl. Love you so much.

Help A Houndie Pitch-In

I’ve placed a donation link on my sidebar for Dotti. Dotti was severely injured when she ran into a wire. It cut through an artery and tendon. She will need extensive medical care to help her walk again. Dotti is from Freedom, Casper and Nikki’s Greyhound group, Allies for Greyhounds. If you can help, I know Dotti’s mom is grateful.

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Here’s what’s happening in my studio…

One of my Stampin’ Up! cardmaking clubs met this past Friday, so I made two new cards.

The texture on the background of this card was done with an embossing folder and a Sizzix machine. The adorable dress and dressmaker form were also done with the Sizzix machine, but with a die. Very feminine.

This card uses the same elements and techniques as the card I did last week. A change in color and arrangement and you have a completely different card.

This Week’s Inspiration

In 2013, I’m doing Inspiration Mondays and Results Thursdays. Every Monday, I’ll post a painting “inspiration” and then on Thursdays, I’ll post how I’m interpreting that inspiration.

Last week’s inspiration was from my friend, Amy…IF FREEDOM WERE A GIRL Here’s the girl I started, based on that inspiration.

This week’s inspiration also comes from my friend, Amy…LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD.

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Today is Father’s Day in the United States. I’m blessed to still have my ornery dad alive and kickin’ and today we celebrated Father’s Day with the patriarch of our family.

Here are some fun pictures from a scrapbook my dad made as a kid and one of his books.

He loved cowboys.

He loved cars (a new Studebaker starting at $685).

He loved reading about other “real boys.”

“Real boys” love dogs.

Happy Father’s Day, Dad!

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Every Saturday, I share my weekly Artist Date.

I volunteer at the Center for History and give tours at Copshaholm (The Oliver Mansion).

Copshaholm’s gardens are the perfect place for an Artist Date.

This year, I’m going to document four Artist Dates in the Copshaholm gardens…one for every season.  In March, I posted about my Winter Artist Date.

The centerpiece of the grounds is the sunken garden which is representative of Edwardian period gardens with their rigid formality in overall design and the use of classical design elements.

Alice E. Neale was hired to plan the original garden design. Neale’s design was informed by Charles Adams Platt’s 1894 book Italian Gardens which had a major influence on American garden design.

Platt’s influence can be seen in the abundance of classical elements found in the Italianate gardens which sprung up across the country in the early 1900s.

At Copshaholm, the pergola, the jardinières which grace the garden steps, the fountain, the well and the sundial are all classical element.

The meticulous design for each planting bed and the limited number of plant varieties used reflected the discipline, reserve, understatement and clarity of structure that were hallmarks of Edwardian gardens.

The Center for History is built on the back of the Oliver property, and the spirit of beautiful garden design continues.

The Copshaholm gardens are one of my favorite places for an Artist Date.

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Every Friday, I share a poem. Friday is also the day I post a prompt of something you can do to make the world a kinder place. I call this the Kind is Kool challenge.

I offer both the poem and the kindness challenge without any obligation, so “Comments” are turned off every Friday. Enjoy.

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Garden Gossip

Thin, chisel-fine a cricket chipped
The crystal silence into sound;
And where the branches dreamed and dripped
A grasshopper its dagger stripped
And on the humming darkness ground.

A bat, against the gibbous moon,
Danced, imp-like, with its lone delight;
The glow-worm scrawled a golden rune
Upon the dark; and, emerald-strewn,
The firefly hung with lamps the night.

The flowers said their beads in prayer,
Dew-syllables of sighed perfume;
Or talked of two, soft-standing there,
One like a gladiole, straight and fair,
And one like some rich poppy-bloom.

The mignonette and feverfew
Laid their pale brows together: ” See!”
One whispered. “Did their step thrill through
Your roots?” Like rain. ” I touched the two
And a new bud was born in me.”

One rose said to another: “Whose
Is this dim music? song, that parts
My crimson petals like the dews?”
“My blossom trembles with sweet news
It is the love of two young hearts.”

Madison Julius Cawein

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Kind is Cool Challenge

Week 23 Challenge – Try to ask more open-ended questions this week…questions that cannot be answered with one word responses.

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Every Monday, I post a painting “inspiration.” Every Thursday, I post how I interpreted the inspiration. I decided to do this to keep myself painting, to strengthen how I go from an idea to a painting, and to give myself permission to play and try new things. For the next several weeks, I’m taking my inspiration from the great ideas you sent me.

This week’s inspiration comes from my friend, Amy…IF FREEDOM WERE A GIRL.

How to be HAPPY!

Every Thursday, Jay of The Depp Effect, posts something that makes her happy, and I’m playing along. She encourages us to look around and notice the things that make us happy. I enjoy this challenge because it makes me consider the things that make me happy, but are easily overlooked. It’s a wonderful exercise in attention and gratitude. Please grab the badge and join in.

Here’s something that makes me happy…FROGS.

I’m a frog collector…well, kind of. I started collecting frogs when I was a little girl. Back then, frog knick-knacks weren’t plentiful so my collection grew slowly and it was fun to find and receive new ones. Over the years, as many collectors have experienced, I became a frog magnet. I received frogs from everyone, for every gift-giving occasion. At my highest point (or more accurately, my lowest point), I had frog everything. It was getting a little weird. So, I went through my collection and got rid of everything except my most treasured frogs. Today, I have a healthy relationship with my collection. I don’t necessarily consider myself a frog collector anymore; I just tend to like some things that have frogs on them. The picture above is of a letter opener. I picked it up in Virginia when I was there for an Army assignment. Useful item, happy memory, cute frog…the perfect mix.

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Every month, I’m looking around at all the things I use the most, to make sure those are my “best” things. This series was inspired by my friend, Amy, who noticed that some of the ickiest things she owned were the things she used the most. She wanted to change that to make sure that her every day life was filled with beautiful, functional things. This inspired me to take a look around and make sure that I wasn’t saving “the best” for days that rarely come.

This month, the change was small but good…new kitchen sink sponges. A while back I changed from plain sponges to prettier cellulose sponges.

Old Sponge to Cellulose Sponge

Then, I saw these Greener Clean Sponges from Scotch-Brite and thought they might be an even better choice.

New Sponge

What makes these sponges even more environmentally-friendly is the scrubbing fibers are made from 50% agave plant, and the sponges are made from 100% plant-based fibers with 23% of that being recycled materials. A nice change.

I love to see what you’re doing too. Recently, Patty (Joey and Scout’s momma), from Two Greyhound Town, updated her spice containers. I asked her if I could share her new look and she said, “yes.”

Spices Before

Spices After

Another View

Don’t the new jars look lovely! Since Patty is a wonderful cook, this is something she’ll enjoy almost every day. Two Greyhound Town is one of my favorite blogs and chronicles the adventures of Joey and Scout, two Greyhounds who are RV’ing all over the country. Joey and Scout are hilarious, and Patty shares their travel adventures, RV living tips, takes us to places they visit and writes restaurant reviews on her blog That One Restaurant. Check them out.

I do an “Every Day Ugly” post on the second Wednesday of every month. I would love to have you join me. If you have some horrible thing that you make beautiful, send me a picture or pictures and tell me about it at whatremainsnow@gmail.com.

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In our last episode of Mini-Me Theatre, we found out there was a new member in our mini-me family…Mini-me Twinkie, the kitty. The story continues…

Now the mini-me houndies, being amiable sorts, wanted to get to know Mini-me Twinkie. So, they decided to tell Mini-me Twinkie about themselves and ask her about herself.

“Hello, Mini-me Twinkie. Welcome. Perhaps we should get to know each other. We are mini-me dogs, and we are happy, obedient and playful. We try our best to do what we’re told. How about you?”

“I am a mini-me cat, and I am smug, disobedient and unrepentant. I don’t do as I’m told; I do as I please.”

The mini-me houndies were confused, but pressed on.

“This is our family. We love them so much. They are perfect.”

“I know these people,” said Mini-me Twinkie, “and sometimes they’re okay. Because they feed me, I only occasionally pee on their stuff.”

Even more confused, the mini-me houndies decided on a more philosophical approach in order to get to know the inner Twinkie.

“In a past life, we and mommy and daddy were all best friends. We were always together and we shared everything.”

“In a past life, I was a panther, and I ate every single one of you.”

“You for breakfast.”

“You for lunch.”

“You for dinner.”

“What about daddy and mommy!?!

“Snacks.”

The mini-me houndies knew immediately that Mini-Me Twinkie needed to be signed up for charm school.

To be continued…

The mini-me’s are custom handmade by Lynne of  Dip-Dip and the Bridge. She also has an Etsy shop called Handmade Gifts By L with even more of her lovely crocheted creations. Want a mini-me of your own? Contact Lynne at chi-chigirls86@hotmail.com and she’ll give you the details.

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Here’s what’s been happening in my studio…

One of my Stampin’ Up! cardmaking clubs met this past Thursday, so I made two new cards.

The texture on the background of this card was done with an embossing folder and a Sizzix machine. The medallions and tag were done with stamps and matching paper punches (punches are one of my favorite things).

This card’s background was stamped, then embossed with a matching embossing folder. The flowers were made using paper punches and layered to add dimension.

This Week’s Inspiration

In 2013, I’m doing Inspiration Mondays and Results Thursdays. Every Monday, I’ll post a painting “inspiration” and then on Thursdays, I’ll post how I’m interpreting that inspiration.

Last week’s inspiration was from Fern of Animal Lover, Quilt Lover…CAT OR DOG. I changed it up a bit and made it CAT & DOG. Here’s the girl I started, based on that inspiration.

This week’s inspiration comes from my friend, Amy…IF FREEDOM WERE A GIRL.

Freedom: This better be good.