Do Bears Really Hibernate??!!

Good Evening Chicks!

Do Bears Really Hibernate?  Well... they don't in ShereeLand!  haha!  I was putting this scene together last night and the hours were ticking by...you know that time of night when you think things are going together but in reality... Not!!

I had another vision in my head, knocking around, trying to get out.  When this happens I go on autopilot and head to my special rubber room (rubber stamps silly!!!) and put everyone in the house on 'ignore' for a while.  All of the voices nattering really doesn't get the mojo flowing!

After trying a few different scenes the past week, I wondered what it would look like if the mountains were stamped first and the sky done afterwards so it looked like things were fading into the background.  By golly... my idea worked!  The mountains were stamped in black after blotting them on paper towel twice first.  Turned out not too shabby.  The next step was to create my 'secret' sky that Victoria has no idea how I do it.  If I'm in a nice, generous mood one day.. I may share my secrets with her so she can put it into one of her classes.  I just can't get too carried away with being nice 'cuz it could ruin my reputaion!!  Victoria's so talented that I think it's only fair that I have the 'one up' on her for a while haha!

Next came the trees and fence doing my 'double dipping' technique that popped into my head but there's probably more than 11 million people already doing it in the world.  I like to feel special.

The weed tops were added in the foreground to make it look like there's more than 1 cm of the white stuff.

Time to colour!  Using the colorbox stylus and foam tips I sponged in grey and aqua to simulate the dips in the snow under the trees, along the fence posts and my sleepwalking bear.  These same colours can be used to simulate hills or valleys as well.

The final step was to add the snow on the trees, fence tops and my sleepwalking bear.  I thought I was really with it when I put snow on his long fur.  I think I got my animals mixed up and it should have been a goat.

The finishing touch is to spray the scene with Krylon Acrylic sealant and then mount in colours to make it pop.  I tried so many different colour combinations and like the one I used.

This photo has more highlights added from the Picassa program I use for editing.  This gives a totally different look to it!

The recipe is as follows:

Stamps:  Stampscapes

267E  Pines and Rocks

293C  Old Fence

I'll have to fill in the rest later... seems half of my stamp list is MIA!

Inks:

Adirondack Aqua Dye Ink, Archival Black, Memento Bamboo, Adirondack Latte Dye Ink

There you have it!   Have a wonderful evening and I'll be back later to do some blog hopping!

Hugs,

Sheree

Update On Ethyl!!

I'm at work and the shop is fairly dead so thought I'd let you all know what's happening with Ethyl!!

Well, Ethyl came back to Vancouver Island on Thursday.  Wouldn't you know it.. I work down island on Thursdays so I missed her!  Ethyl and her husband came in the shop to say hi and pick up the mystery package I had done up for her... all of the cards from you!

Terry brought out the package and told her that ladies from all over the world sent the cards to keep her spirits up!  She had to turn away from Terry, and her husband's eyes were welling up too...  She was crying and said that she couldn't believe that people who didn't know her would send such beautiful cards.  She was holding the package tightly and not about to let go!  My daughter Erica brought out the box of tissues and there was a cry festival happening in the showroom.

I was able to speak to Ethyl on the phone I had with me.  She sounded so wonderful and thankful ... she was beside herself.  She'll be coming over early in the week to have dressings changed at the hospital here so will stop in the shop to see me as well.  Terry said that she was all dressed up as she always is and had a scarf around her head, covering the bandages where they had to shave her hair off.  You could see her eyes and part of her cheek and mouth but the rest was covered.  Terry did see that part of her face that was sticking out of the bandages was fairly raw.  After all she has gone through.... the newest operation didn't work either.

What a day Ethyl had trying to get home!  She made the airplane in Vancouver fine and then landed in Campbell River.  They were disembarking quickly as this is a fast stop, and ended up sending Ethyl's luggage back to Vancouver on the plane!  You bet... everything went to Vancouver, including her medications.  There wasn't going to be another flight that day so one of the airline employees in Comox said that when the luggage arrived there he'd drive it up to Campbell River and meet them at the ferry.  This was around 1:30 p.m. and it would take until 7 p.m.!

Guess what Ethyl was going to do while they waited all those hours??!!  You bet.. she was planning on reading the cards!

I can hardly wait to see her this coming week and will keep you posted!

Hope you all are having a wonderful weekend!

Hugs,
Sheree

Stampscapes - My First Winter Scene

Good Morning!

I played in my cave for a while last night.  You know when you get an idea in your head and it keeps banging to get let out??  Okay... maybe you don't have anyone banging around in your head lol!  I do...

I had an idea for a winter scene and went to work, trying to bring it to life.  Originally the sky was quite dark, like it does when a blizzard is rolling in.  They lightened up overnight to a colour I'm happy with.

The top scene is the first one of two I did.  I always tell people to do at least two scenes at a time so you can try something different with one or, in case one doesn't turn out!  The latter is what happened with the one above.  I goofed on the forground and snow shading.  The layout is a tad different and the sky is different as well.

One thing I tried that is new to me is.. Double dipping.  I thought of it so I'm naming it!  Have a feeling it's called something else on the net.  If you look closely at the trees and fence posts you will see that the image is stamped in the usual black ink but I then double dipped by adding other colours to the stamp.   The tree tops are double dipped and the fence posts as well.  It shows a lot better in the picture above.

This second scene is the one I like.  Only two goofs that will be easy to hide haha!  The stamps I used were masked off with ripped pieces of painter's tape.  You can't see all of the grass when it snows and the trees are from a water scene stamp!  The sky is quite uniformed in colour.  I see the dining room light has caught the top edge of the photo.

I'll probably mount the scenes tonight.  Have to pick papers that will make them pop!

7 p.m. - Finally Mounted - #1

This photo shows 'auto colour' on my Picassa software... Makes the snow stand out!

 

Finally Mounted #2

This is using no colour enhancement... Looks colder with snow on the horizon this way.

 

The recipe is as follows:

Stamps - All from Stampscapes

008A  Buck

207E  Pine Island

192B  Bush

293C  Old Fence

289D  Fence

Inks used

Adirondack Dye Ink Pads - Aqua, Latte, Archival Black

Memento Dye Ink Pads - Summer Sky, London Fog, Bamboo Leaves

Paper - Glossy, Unknown for mounting

Tools - Colorbox Stylus, White paint pen, MS Snowflake punch

CAS Christmas

Good Evening!

I'm feeling a bit better now and thought I'd post a card I've been playing with for days now.  The flu takes almost every ounce of mojo away!

This is my take on a card I saw at Crafty Capers.  It's hard to tell but the layers are lifted slightly.  And... I tried something I won't bother trying again.  Using a glue ink pad I applied glue to my stamp and tried adding some design or dimension to the background.  Once the glue was on I used M.Stewart Ultra Fine Clear Crystal glitter and let it dry.  Trouble is..it doesn't show well unless you tilt the card, especially since the background is a mushroomy white colour.  Oh well... live and learn!

The stamp used was Stampendous Jumbo Cling Pine Drift.  This is actually a set that includes the tree and also a flourish type background stamp which looks awesome watermarked on dark paper!

My papers were from different places...  Stampin' Up!, WalMart and Autumn Leaves (Manhattan - Fifth Avenue).

I love stickles at Christmas and the two colours used were gold and platinum.

Thanks for looking!  I'm going to try this one again when my mojo returns and hopefully will end up with something that's eyecatching!

Hugs,

Sheree

I'll be entering this card into the CAS Sunday challenge at The Outlawz

Looking For Two Winners To Contact Me!

Hello Chickees!

I've been busy putting all the candy together to post this week and I'm still waiting for two winners to contact me in order to get their mailing address.  If anyone out there knows how to contact these two ladies... get them to give me a holler!

I'm looking for:

 1st Prize - F. Arnold, South Africa




5th Prize - Sandra Elliott, United Kingdom

If I don't hear from them by Tuesday, August 16th, I will be drawing two new names!

Also...
Extra! Extra!!

Jo from:
www.jozartdesigns.blogspot.com has graciously offered a prize as well!! I'll be announcing the winner of this prize on Tuesday as well. You should check out! I really like her style and our craft rooms look very similar (her old craft room!)


I added more candy to the pile as well and it looks like I'll have one more name to draw for that as well. It's not huge but... It will be better than a kick in the pants!

Keep your fingers crossed and your eyes peeled for the results Tuesday evening!

Hugs,
Sheree


      

Eat Your Heart Out Victoria!!

Good Afternoon Chickees!
It's Sunday afternoon and I'm down in the basement for a wee bit posting this because it's soooo hot outside!  When you add the heat to hot flashes.... Let's just say I'd love to fly to Alaska right now and run around with no clothes on!  Haha!  Second thought... I'd probably be run out of there in a hurry!
My DH has come down with a nasty cold and headache.  After I post this I must go purchase some more drugs for him.  I'm planning the funeral for this coming Friday.
My wonderful 'Stamp Eater' dog has taken a liking to my Holey shoes!  It just took me over an hour to find it this time.  Purlita had it in her fort!  Worse than having 10 - 2 year olds around!

Now.. Back to today's post!

I did another shopping trip to my favourite stamping store, Crafty Capers, last Thursday.  This has become a regular thing to do after working in Nanaimo on Thursdays!  The Stampscape stamps were in for the 'Cards for Ethyl' candy, so I picked them up along with a couple of things for myself!  Bad, Bad, Sheree!
I spotted this stamp a couple of weeks ago and thought I'd better pick it up as it was the only one.  Victoria said it had been there since last year and she'd be so upset if I made something awesome with it... because she didn't have one or sold it at the garage sale or something.

Here is the first card I created. I'm not too sure I'm happy with it because I got stuck with the ribbon.  I'm going to do some more with this stamp and will add the cards to this posting as I complete them!

I distressed the background paper and although it's hard to see it in this picture, it's of old catalogues... maybe even the Sears Wishbook?  Who knows...  I deckled the edges with my Fiskars scissors and then distress the edges before scrunching them up.  The image is embossed in gold which makes staying in the lines a lot easier haha! 

This second card is my current favourite.  It is also embossed in gold and coloured with Copics.  I liked the clean look with this one and the background paper is gold with a medium sheen to it.

In this photo you will see the embossing and now that I have it up on the screen... it shows how I have a hard time staying inside the lines hahahaha!  Better luck next time!

The recipe for the above is:

Stamps:

Stampendous! - Poinsettia Corner

Sentiment - Unknown

Ink:

VersaMark

Copics

Gold embossing powder

Stickles - Sunshine Yellow (kind of looks like roe in the pic??)

Distress Ink Pad - Old Paper

Thanks for looking and I hope you have a wonderful work week!

Hugs,

Sheree

CAS Christmas

 

Good Evening Chickees!

 

This CAS Christmas card is my entry into The Outlawz CAS Challenge this week!  I had 15 minutes to spare so went to my 'room' and this is what I ended up with.  It looks so much better IRL because the cardstock colour is actually Next To Navy from Stampin' Up!  My embossing is Opaque White as is the base cardstock tho' it looks cream in this photo.

The recipe is as follow:
Stamps:
Inkadinkado for the main image
Studio G for the sentiment (One of those $1.50 stamps in the Michael's bins)
Papers:
Next to Navy from Stampin' Up!
Staples 110 lb. white cardstock
Opaque White embossing powder
Bling from Recollections
Scoring on MS Score board

Thanks for looking!

Hugs,
Sheree

p.s.

Here is a butterfly (Swallowtail I think) that graced my backyard yesterday, feeding on the butterfly bush!  Isn't it beautiful!!??

I may have to print this out and use it on a card somehow!