Papertrey Ink June Blog Hop

It's Blog Hop day!

The photo inspiration for this month's Blog Hop is one I fell in love with immediately.

 I do love a good deep blue and the ombre effect in the glass is just gorgeous!  I have had so many ideas churning around in my head.  I wanted to do something with an acetate sheet, to pull the influence of the glass carboy, and I had picked up some Stazon inks last month for the May Blog Hop.  (Nope, you didn't miss it!  I couldn't find the right groove on that one and didn't complete an entry)  I also wanted to concentrate on the blue with a touch of peach.  In my head, the card went from birthday card to anniversary card to birthday card back finally to anniversary card.  

I found this fantastic piece of acetate at Michael's.  The gold dots just screamed, "Elevate!" What a great place to start!  I knew I wanted to mimic the ombre on my card.  It's an obvious choice, but one I felt was necessary.  I had initially wanted to stamp a floral into the background, but it was just too busy and really competed with the pattern of the top layer.  Simple was the way to go.  Using the 2017 Anniversary Set "Grand Finale" allowed me to add some fomality and a floral element without all the chaos.

I decided to go with Jet Black Stazon Ink for the focal piece as the Stazon Blue Hawaii Midi wasn't packing enough of a punch on the gold pattern. The ombre background was created with Papertrey Ink's Enchanted Evening dye ink on white cardstock.  The card base is also Enchanted Evening.  The acetate panel is popped up slightly to add dimension.

As for the flower, that inspiration came from a post I saw on Instagram a couple days ago.  I folded a sheet of tissue paper (coincidentally, the packing tissue from my last PTI delivery) and cut out 8 layers using one of the larder floral dies from my favorite PTI set, Doodlie-Do. For the color, I chose Sweet Blush and Melon Berry, sponging some mottled ink onto each flower.  

Once colored, I stacked them up being careful not to be too neat about it.  I used a gold brad to hold the layers together and form the center of the flower.  Then I bunched and crimped the layers to form a fluffy, 3D flower.  This adds a touch of softness to the design. I just love how this card turned out.

Thanks for taking the time to check out my project.

You can see all of the entries on Nichole's blog here after 10am today.  

2017 Grand Finale

The Home Stretch!

It is hard to believe that just 4 years ago, we were waiting to hear when T would get picked up for Gunsmithing school.  Also hard to believe he has less than 7 weeks of his 16 months left until he earns his certification.  It has been a lot of hard work and a lot of travel, but it will definitely be worth it in the end.  

He is working on his final projects and for the first time in this experience, he is feeling the time crunch.  I am so proud of his dedication to making the very best of this opportunity, even if it means I mow a hell of a lot of grass.  

I asked him to share some photos of one of his projects.  This one is special.  In December of 2015, just a week before Christmas, my Dad left the farm early to go home and change clothes for his dental appointment.  It was very fortunate he did as when he arrived, the house was on fire.  He called the Fire Department and they were able to put out the fire that was contained to the master bedroom. By the grace of God, it was smoldering but had not managed to travel to the rest of the house. 

He had a couple guns damaged in the fire.  They would need to have new stocks and be cleaned up in general.  When T started school, the remains of these guns went along with him.

Through the course of his training, he has had the opportunity to learn the techniques of blueing barrels and other metal parts.  He also had a semester in stock making and has been machining things all along the way.  

It was awesome to see my Dad's face when Todd was able to give him the rifle pictured both above and below.

I can't wait to share more of his portfolio once it is complete.  

May 2017: Papertrey Ink's "Create Along With Us"

It's release day!  As far as new stuff, this month's release contains a couple must haves for me:

 BUT, no shopping for me tonight! I'm waiting for a few out of stock items to round an order out.  I will have to place it soon with the Vault being retired. Must... work... on... patience.

To tide me over, I'm crafting!  Hopefully, I won't have to wait long.  

The challenge today is to take inspiration from the release and come up with a project using Papertrey Ink goodness in our own interpretation.   I was drawn to Nichole's card:

From Nichole's blog at Papertrey Ink

She focused on a few new products, including:

Mix and Mat:  Herringbone

Ivy & Bloom

Ways to Say:  Sympathy

I decided to use a more neutral palate and pulled out:

Birds of a Feather

Larger than Life

Garden Gate Kit stencil:  Lattice

I liked the crafty look of the Ivy in the Ivy & Bloom set, so I decided to just cut the botanical images out of card stock rather than stamp them as well.  I like the textures at play on this card.  I'll admit, I was going for the hummingbird, but thought he was pointed to the left, when in fact he flies to the right.  His little friend saves the day with an addition of a few more grasses.  I like it better this way!

Thank you for stopping by!  Don't forget to check out all of the entries in this month's challenge. along with all the goodness!

May Release Challenge Entries

Papertreyink.com

Additional players:

Some PTI card stock in Olive Twist, Harvest Gold, Simply Chartreuse and Lemon Tart

Ink:  PTI Olive Twist &Smokey Shadow, along with Memento Tuxedo Black, Versamark Embossing Pad, Clear embossing powder & Tim Holtz Distress Inks

Life is slow, and that's awesome!

Enjoying my mini-vacation from work--due to needs of the department, I am in the middle of 4 days away from the office.  It's felt good to chill out a bit.  T cooked all weekend--he made chili and nachos Saturday night and then chicken and waffles for Mother's Day. 

Speaking of mothers, I am hoping Mother Nature finally has her season's squared away!  This is why Spring is my least favorite of all.  It is so temperamental.  My yard behind the house looks like an African savanna, between the tall grass and the trees filling out.  Mowing is a multi-day affair, and trying to get it done between work and the raindrops is a challenge!  The rhubarb is getting high, so I baked an apple pie with rhubarb, yum!  The pie filling T canned in 2015 is holding up well, but we've not got much left.  With the craziness in our weather here so far this year, I wasn't sure if the fruit trees would be shocked like 2016 and we'd not see much in the way of fruit nubs.  THAT is not a problem!  Look at all of those little apples!

I think the orchard is going to be productive if we can keep the critters from knocking all of the fruit down before we get a chance to pick it and use it. Hoping to have lots to post on that as the year goes on.  The newer apple trees the mister planted are starting to make little apples, too.  I am anxious to taste my first "Arkansas Black" and see if the hype is warranted.  It is supposed to be an excellent baking choice.  Also a first this year, the 2 Bosc Pear trees have pears coming in.  I love fresh pears.

A few of my herbs came through the winter months beautifully!

Aside from mowing and tending to the yard, I've also been taking advantage of the colder temps and hitting the stacks of stamps and paper.  It has been a year of collecting supplies--probably in part to having a job again, part to T being in school and not seeing what comes in the mail, and part the fact that so many of the older stamps and supplies from my favorite stamp company are being discontinued.  It was hard to keep up during tax season, but I'm catching up!  You can see my cards either on Instagram (jilouise1) or from time to time, on here.

Hope everyone had a wonderful Mother's day weekend! 

My First Papertrey Ink Blog Hop -- Perception of Color

So, in a continuation of firsts, I have decided to participate in my first ever blog hop.

In early February of 2015, I received an email from a website I had casually stumbled upon looking for a set of number dies the summer before--a site for a company called Papertrey Ink. Over the next few months, I rediscovered how much I loved stamps.  This company's artistic style and aesthetic really spoke to me.  I have found some really cute stuff on either sites, but PTI keeps me coming around for more, time after time.  The florals, the crisp lines--I just love it.

Flash forward to last summer...

One of my new friends, Joyce, invited me over to spend the day crafting along to Papertrey Ink's annual Stamp-a-Faire celebration.  Up until then, I was too shy to post any of my creations, but she helped me out of that box.  Since then I have joined in on several "Make-it-Mondays" and other challenges posting photos on Instagram and Flickr.  I've again found myself in a group of some talented folks (OK LOTS of super talented folks) who enjoy this hobby as much as I do.

So, the blog hop?  Well, for those who don't know, an inspiration photo is chosen by the fine folks at Papertreyink.com.  Those who want to play along let it inspire them, make something using PTI products and post about it online.  This month's inspiration?  This fantastic print from Megan Carter:

To me, this reminded me of a fabric I would find in the kitchen.  Then it hit me.  Why not combine two of my favorite hobbies?  It's been quite a while since the sewing machine and I have had any interaction, but a nice apron would be a great way to get my legs again.  The gears began to turn.  It is a very pretty print, full of springtime goodness.  Still, the grey was a definite challenge, and not just to me.  Do I go grey?  Taupe?  Purple?

On one of my favorite new Facebook Groups, fellow card maker Crystal asked the group, to paraphrase, what shade of grey are you using?  Oh there were plenty of thoughts--it looked one color on the laptop, another on the phone....  Me, with the attention span of a small dog, found my mind drifting back to last year when that silly dress photo was all over the web.  You know the one I mean.

Is it blue and black?  Is it white and gold?  I doubt we'll ever really know.  

It made me want to do this:

That was it!  My imagination took off running.  I wondered if this was too far out of the box, but I was assured by Joyce, who has taken part in these blog hops many times, that the challenges were all about being inspired.  If this was the direction I was drawn, I should go with it.  So, I did,  I monkied around a bit with the pastels on yellow using some die cut flowers from PTI's Vintage Linens.  I liked where it was going, but this negative image was screaming for my attention.  It won out in the end.

 I started playing with inks and paints, along with one of my favorite stamp sets, Doodlie-Do, to see what would hold up to being laundered.  My initial direction was shades of blues, greys and teals on black. It was a bit dark, almost somber, and I could just imagine Pat, another PTI fan and papercrafter saying, "It needs more purple!"  The gears were really spinning now!  After  quick trip to the fabric store (oh, no, wait, that was just a wander through the fabric stash in the closet!) to pull out a "vintage" (OK, mid 90's) print and some black cotton, Also picked up a fresh new set of fabric markers that were made especially for dark fabrics from the local big box store.  I was on my way!

The part that took the longest was the stamped panel. 225 square inches of glorious color.

It was worth all of the effort.  I absolutely love it! 

I had looked online to see if I could find a longer apron pattern to make an apron suitable for gathering fruit and veggies during the harvest season.  I never seem to have enough hands!   I decided against a full length style and went for a gathered half apron.  It would have to be something that would be long enough and full enough to hold a nice bunch of peaches or pears.  I didn't want to squash them in a large pocket or bruise them with buttons.  Something simple, yet vintage inspired, with a modern color palate.  Nice and summery. Looking back on my weekend, it probably would have been easier with a pattern, but in true Project Runway fashion, I whipped one up.  Nina and Zack Posen would probably say it's a bit Arts and Crafts, but it will do nicely for the job intended.  I'm pleased with the end result.  Not going to win any ribbons at the fair, but hey!  Perhaps my jam made from the fruit I'll cart to the house while wearing it will?

A close up:

I hope you've enjoyed my slightly offbeat, non-conventional offering for this month's Blog Hop.

You can see what others have created by heading over to Nicole's Blog:

http://nicholeheady.typepad.com/capture_the_moment/2017/04/april-2017-blog-hop-inspiration.html

I had a lot of fun with this project.  

Thanks for stopping by!

Materials:

Stamps:  Doodlie-Do from Papertrey Ink

Ink from Hero Arts, color: Unicorn

Fabric Markers from Tulip Arts

Miscellaneous fabrics and notions

Many thanks to Joyce C., Crystal M. and Pat W. for the inspiration you,

albeit unknowingly, lent to this challenge.  

High-Gluten Gunsmith?

OK, so that might seem a little weird.  In July of 2014, the 28th to be exact, my husband, Todd, aka the Mister, was getting his ducks in a row for retirement after nearly 30 years in the US Submarine Force.  We were setting up our move out of the military community and into the civilian world.  This would take us back to our PA roots and the families we grew up with.  After making our Navy family for all these years, it was kind of daunting, a little sad and very exciting.  We've made so many wonderful friends who are like sisters, brothers and even some strange distant cousins.  I wouldn't trade them for the world.  We are truly blessed.

People would ask, "Are you heading home to Pennsylvania?" "Does he have a job yet?"  "Where will you live?"  The first and last questions were easy ones as we had been working on purchasing our home here in N.E. PA. since 2010.  The middle one?  That was a little more shocking to some.  What does one do after a 30 year Naval career?  My answer is, honestly, whatever he wants.  He decided it would be back to school at age 50 to learn the gunsmith trade.  He has been learning a lot and having a good time doing it.  Whether he becomes a gunsmith upon completion of the semester or just goes back to hunting, mowing the grass and tending the orchard and gardens, it will be a worthwhile experience.

He really enjoys his retirement.  He's still baking bread, brewing beer and making wine whenever he can.  When we were younger, he would say that he would work the first 20 years and I got to take the next (Dear Lord, please tell me he was joking.).  I've gone back into the banking world, part time, and gotten back into some hobbies that have been neglected.  I've also added a couple new ones, this blog included.  Those who have been waiting will be pleased.--it has only taken me 1,001 days to post something on it.  I am looking forward to sharing our little slice of PA heaven.

Getting started

So, I guess after registering for this blog in 2014 (gasp!)  I should take the plunge and write in it.  I thought it would be fun, a way to stay in touch with the many friends across the miles, etc.  Truth be told, I have been too scared to get started.  I have found a vial of courage; perhaps it will do the trick?
I was talking to the Mister tonight.  I told him, too, that I was going to give this blog thing another go.  He is, after all, the subject of my blog title.  It should probably be titled, "Hey Rocky! Want to see me pull a rabbit out of this hat?"  That is how I genuinely feel when trying a new project, recipe, or adventure.  Thankfully, most of our luck has been rabbits, but I'll be honest, I don't know how they get there.  

So, if you're here for the show, please enjoy!