Bristol board

 A high quality heavy weight drawing paper, sometimes made with cotton fiber prepared or glued together, usually with a caliper thickness of 0.006″ and up, used for many types of two-dimensional artwork, including lettering.

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Paint Party Friday week 49
Balzer Designs - Art Journal Every Day

During our winter storm, I had so much fun taking pictures of my backyard birds! I got up to 15 different species, there are still about 5 more out there that haven't cooperated with the photo taking, maybe they didn't like the snow? Anyway, my art journal page today was totally inspired by this little bluebird that was perched on my balcony looking out over the yard and the snow falling.

I knew I wanted to do a snow inspired page and I love how this turned out.  The snow effect is a combination of water being spritzed on the background, white ink splatters and white pen doodles.

Again, painting with my pipette, I just love how it looks so loose and free. The snow on the top of the branch is a mixture of molding paste, stickles and white ink.

The quote is one of my new favorites, so true isn't it? 

"The Future lies before you like a field of snow. Be careful how you tread it, for every step will show."

And after everything was done I realized I had done 2 character type pages side by side. Although the pictures are quite different their messages are the same;
what we do and what we say, is important.

"A person's true character is revealed by what he does when no one else is watching."

berceuse: noun

a musical composition usually in 6/8 time that resembles a lullaby

pronunciation

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Paper Smooches - Anything Goes

The scarecrow is stamped onto a transparency.

The leaves are cut, painted and scrunched up and given dimension, and outlined lightly with a pen.

Cricut - Stretch Your Imagination - tag, p. 80

Simply Scarecrow - leaves

Kim Hughes stamp

Really Reasonable Ribbon - hemp cord

Faber Castell - PITT pen

Helmar - V2 spray, Liquid Scrapdots

Ranger - Distress Paints

Maya Road - transparency

My Little Shoebox - pattern paper

Ariel - font
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So yesterday I thought I could finally put away the blankets and tarps that I use to cover my tender plants during those sporadic frost that spring gives you and what did I discover? A nest that had been built into the folds of my tarp...aka old picnic table cloth.

Now if this little nest had held eggs, I would have been stuck with the blanket sitting on my glider and basically no access to my small balcony, so whew...no eggs. Out it came! And notice all that moss? It's from my planters!! I was wondering what was happening because I was seeing moss here and there and my planters were getting all bald!

I found a display spot for it though, it won't last long probably but I'll enjoy it for awhile. See that ugly moss covered purse beside it..yeah..the one with the big ugly brown bald spot...yep...

And if anyone is wondering it's the nest of a Carolina Wren:


Now if I can just get that darn Chickadee from decimating my basket handle cover, it seems to have developed a fondness for burlap....

force majeure: noun

superior or irresistible force

or

 an event or effect that cannot be reasonably anticipated or controlled

pronunciation

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Steve Martin has a house somewhere in the hills of North Carolina and performs "When you get to Asheville"...♥ on the David Letterman show.

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No crafting yesterday; I spent it with Carey at the Biltmore Estate oohing and ahhhing over all the scrumptious flowers and stuffing our faces with delicious food. It was a great day!

Walking up to lunch at the Biltmore Inn..

 a rose at every table...

the view from our table...

after lunch, a walk through the beautiful gardens...

and a surprise on the drive out of the estate....

a yellow river of flowers that seemed to stretch forever...

goodbye Biltmore...thank you for an awesome day!

demulcent: adjective

soothing

pronunciation
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Inkspiritional - Challenge #16

 

I struggle with monochromatic. There I said it.

Is there such a thing as a color therapist?

<insert smirk>

( as you see, I haven't planted the begonia yet )

The inside to the sentiment stamp actually has a "miss you"in the center of the circle...but I masked that off so I could stamp the pine cone inside it.

 

Personal Stamp Exchange - pine cone...( is the second oldest stamp set I own, from 1993! )

Autumn Leaves - Talking in Circles stamp

Ranger - Distress paints, mowed lawn, vintage photo

burlap, twine - misc.

Helmar - 450

Renee Lingren - markers
Imagine - Goosebumps
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And a close of my begonia, just love the way the sunlight is shining on it.

Take your time..ohhh and ahhh over it a bit....

ok, let's move on now, shall we?

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Even though all my Mother's Day cards are finished, I still needed a few tags for the store.

 

entering them in:

Really Reasonable Ribbon - #70 Mother's Day theme with ribbon

 

 3 more that I made :)

 

Maya Roads - velvet flowers

Really Reasonable Ribbon - twine, ribbon

assorted letters and papers from scrap

Cricut - Doodlecharms, p. 85

milieu: noun

the physical or social setting in which something occurs or develops : environment
pronunciation
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Pause Dream Enjoy Challenges - #8 Friendship

 

 

 

The inside of the card:

 

Our Daily Bread Designs - stamp

Cricut - French Manor, p. 54

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Experimenting with my camera, I am titling this "winter into summer"...lol
yeah, I know, gumballs and weeds...don't ask...:)

Yesterday the skies opened up and it poured for about 30 minutes with lightening and thunder galore. Enough to make me unplug everything and go stand by the porch to watch the creek fill up and that's when I spied someone else seeking shelter from the deluge :) When it was all over, he got a Graham cracker from me and scurried back to his home.

 

Trending words

Diaphanous: adjective

characterized by extreme delicacy of form 

(yes, it also has other meanings, but this was the meaning for how it was used)

pronunciation

 

when: Lookups spiked on April 9, 2013

 

why: The pop star Shakira – a new judge on NBC's singing competition The Voice – praised an 18-year-old contestant by saying, "Your voice is so diaphanous at times."

 

Diaphanous is currently in the top 1% of lookups and is the 144th most popular word on Merriam-Webster.com.

 

I love the idea that media does increase our curosity and learning experience.

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Card Makin' Mamas - Time for Ribbon

Bitten by the Bug2 - Welcome Baby

Sister Act Card Challenge - #2

Craft-room challenge - So Sentimental

 

 Here the GC is removed, and the card itself can be used as a tag or embellishment for the baby's scrapbook.

Little Yellow Bicycle - stickers

Really Reasonable Ribbon - ribbon

Cricut - Doodlecharms cartridge, p. 106

Faber Castell - PITT pen
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Taking a walk downtown behind the Art MoB:

The tulips will be gone all too soon...but I love how the streets look...

This is the way to paint the back of a building now, and am so proud that there is no graffiti on it too...respecting the mural artists!

 

 I know we are all use to seeing signs church signs with inspiring words, but it made me smile that this was a Dry Cleaners signage.

 

voracious: adjective

having a huge appetite : ravenous

or

 excessively eager : insatiable

pronunciation

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#25 of 30 Mother's Day cards in 30 days

 

I used a digital stamp from Squigglefly, ( I won it awhile back, but it's the first time I have used it )and because I don't have the right kind of printer I have to trace over it with my waterproof PITT pen...no big deal, but the next printer I get will the right kind!

 

Faber Castell - PITT pens, gelatos

Ranger - Dylusions, stickles

Candy Buzz - font

Squigglefly - Moon clipart

 

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A few more pictures to share with you from my trip to Biltmore, the rooftop Architect's Tour.

 

From this vantage point you can get extreme close up of the beautiful architect.

This is Mr. Vanderbilt himself, carved in stone up among the many gargoyles and grotesques...he really did have a great sense of humor evidently!

If you look close enough you can still see some of the gold leafing that remains on the tiles since 1895.

When you are inside the Biltmore, you are NOT allowed to take any pictures and there are sentries/guards stationed all over the place to make sure that no one touches anything or takes pictures, but our guide let us take one of the huge chandelier that hands in the grand stairwell.

There are definite perks to being in a secluded employee tour!

"The massive stone spiral staircase rises four floors and has 102 steps. Through its center hangs an iron chandelier suspended from a single point, containing 72 electric light bulbs."

Grotesque: noun

 a style of decorative art characterized by fanciful or fantastic human and animal forms often interwoven with foliage or similar figures that may distort the natural into absurdity, ugliness, or caricature

 

pronunciation

 

And here I thought they were gargoyles!! So, did you know that gargoyles have a purpose? Do you know what it is? Answer at the bottom of the post ;)

 

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Carey took me to the Biltmore Estate Inn for a 5 star breakfast!

And it was deeeellliishhh!

 We needed a fortifying breakfast cause we were going to the tip top of Biltmore today. See the flag flying up there? That's where we are heading...by stairs...lots of stairs....

 I was standing in the Italian Garden when I took the above picture and here is the view of where I was, from the top of Biltmore.
Here is the view in reverse, once we were up top.
Breath taking, windy and cold....but oh so worth it...every single step!

And who says that George Vanderbilt didn't have a sense of humor? Grotesques with butt cracks...lol

and boobs!

These are things you don't get to see on the ground!

 

 Did you know that a gargoyle is a spout in the form of a grotesque human or animal figure projecting from a roof gutter to throw rainwater clear of a building?

So now you know the difference between a gargoyle and a grotesque!

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and #25 of 30 Mother's Day cards in 30 days

LOL, I was soooooooooooo tired last night, I could barely make my card, but so far I have upheld the making of a Mother's Day card every day.This card makes me laugh seeing it the next day, I know I'll have to do something to make it better...any suggestions?

ok...update....I think it's better now :)

Cricut - Everyday Paper Dolls cartridge ( created in Cricut Craft Room )
Hambly - butterfly sticker
K&Co. - flourishes
Prima - rub ons
Heidi Grace - glittered flower
Heidi Swapp - black bling
Faber Castell - PITT pens, silver metallic gelato
Traveling Typewriter - font
pattern paper - from my stash
Helmar - Liquid Scrap dots

hark back: verb

to turn back to an earlier topic or circumstance

or

 to go back to something as an origin or source

 

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Over at Anything but a Card, they asked us to choose either to do a new Anything Goes project to create or to choose a favorite non-card project from 2012. I chose the more difficult selection
( figures, right? )...which is to pick my favorite non-card project. Which led me down the road of not only choosing a favorite project, but a favorite crafting medium? a favorite moment?  How was I going to achieve this? lol

So first, here are my favorite picks from the 2012 year.

I would like to start off with the greatest moment for the year, which was a major accomplishment for me, and that was joining the Art MoB and selling my creations. It was a "check off the bucket list" feat for me, and I am so glad that I did it too. You may not know the courage it took to have my art juried before they accepted me there. I was very nervous!

Top of my head were my mermaid wall hangings...I still sigh that both are sold, but it's a happy sigh! One of my biggest pleasures for the year 2012 was discovering that people wanted to buy things I made...one of the hardest things I discovered was letting go of them!

Then there was my lay out that used a lot of white space, and I was pretty proud of myself for accomplishing that feat! I also discovered that this past year, I didn't take as many pictures hence my album wasn't as full as previous years...I think my blog has replaced my scrapbook in a lot of ways.

Or how about the scarab I created for the peep hole on my door, still freaks my company out when they exit my place, but I loooooooove it, lol I love how they all want to go look out through the peep hole before they leave, it's very funny.

 

And my favorite picture of 2012 is the doe who was in my backyard and didn't seem to mind at all my amateurish photography skills, thank goodness for zoom, eh?

 

And I would be remiss if I didn't add a favorite card for the year, which was hands down, the 50 Shades card for Thanksgiving, for it's humor alone...;) I made 2 of these cards which sold before making it to the display at the store. I loved the reactions of the women buying them, lol

 

But in the end, I chose a mini album, that I giggled and cackled the whole time making it, and click HERE to see all the pages and the hilarious sayings that go along with those fab retro images! It's too picture heavy to post here. ) I have to note here that I have made 3 of these albums, the first two having already been sold and the third one is in the Art MoB.

 

So  as I hark back for the year, I find myself nostalgic for my projects, a lot that I sold ( which is fantastic ) and will never see them again except for the photos!