Art

Festive Flurry of Snowflakes

/ Jodi / 32 Comments

Turquoise Brusho Festive Flurry Sparkle Snowflake Card

This week’s challenge at The Paper Players is a Tic Tac Toe Challenge.   These are always so fun to choose which way to go.

For my Design Team Inspiration Card this week, I choose the Diagonal: Snowflake-Sparkle-Die Cut.

pp273

I had an idea in mind, but when I saw a card done by one of my favorite stamper/ cardmakers, Sharon White of Copy Cat Cards, I was totally blown away and completely inspired to create my version featured here (with her permission of course – gracious CAS’er that she is!)

Turquoise Brusho Festive Flurry Sparkle Snowflake Card 2

This card combines Brusho Watercolor Crystals with embossing and stamping and die-cutting.

I started with Arches 140lb watercolor paper.

Using the StampinUp Festive Flurries Stamp Set, I randomly stamped a few snowflakes with VersaMark Ink and then heat embossed with Sparkle Embossing Powder.

I then taped the watercolor paper down, masking off the edges with painter’s tape and painted the paper with water.  I then sprinkled Turquoise Brusho Crystals onto the paper and spritzed with some additional water before letting it thoroughly dry.

While that was drying, I stamped a festive flurry snowflake in turquoise on white card stock for the the first card and one in Versamark on Pacific Point Blue card stock for the second one and then heat embossedwith some more Sparkle Embossing Powder.  Once dry, I die cut them with the matching Festive Flurry Die.

I then attached each to a card base, the first to Whisper White, and the second to Pacific Point.  I used some different fun sparkly ribbon for each and added a snowflake embellishment to the center of the large snowflake.

I’m thinking these will make beautiful Hanukkah cards for a few dear friends!

Hope my stamping and paper crafting friends will join us this week for our Tic-Tac-Toe Challenge at The Paper Players.

Cheers & Hugs,

Jodi

 

Eat Pie, Drink Wine, Be Thankful!

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eat pie drink wine be thankful card

Happy Thanksgiving!

Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi

PS  Can you guess what I am taking to our Thanksgiving festivities?
Yep – You got it!
Wine and Pie!

A Turkey Day Card for The Paper Players

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Thanksgiving Turkey Paper Players Sketch Challenge PP272

“Soon will be Thanksgiving Day – Gobble Gobble Gobble!
Children run and laugh and play, but I think that I will stay,
and hide until the day is done – Gobble Gobble Gobble!”

This is a silly Turkey Song my kids and I sang when they were little (and I have to admit I still get it stuck in my head this time of year!)  I sang it with my family as a little girl, so it is hard to think of Thanksgiving week without singing it!

pp272_A

This week is Sketch Challenge #272  at  The Paper Players , and I had turkey on the brain for my Design Team inspiration card.

Thanksgiving Turkey Paper Players Sketch Challenge PP272 Close Up

My turkey looks a bit concerned – doesn’t he?!   I’m guessing turkeys are not so fond of Thanksgiving!

I had fun making this whimsical card and giving it to my sweet daughter-in-law with a few of those decadent Heavenly Hot Cocoa Brownies I made last week as a little surprise.  She works really close to our house, and I practically pass her office to get to mine, so it is fun to drop by with a little surprise every once in a while.  (And sweetheart that she is, sometimes I find little surprises in my mailbox from her too!)  🙂

For my stamping and papercrafting friends, below are the supplies and instructions.  You can certainly improvise with colors and shapes and scissors and stamps, but I thought I would share what I used.   There are lots of cute ideas on Pinterest to inspire you and which inspired me.  I just made due with things I had on hand.  Hope you will join us for this week’s Paper Players Sketch Challenge.  So many fun things you can do with it and lots of other great inspiration from our creative design team.

Supplies & Instructions

  • Card Stock:  StampinUp (SU) Hello Honey Yellow, Pumpkin Orange, Real Red, Chocolate Chip Brown, Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla, Whisper White, Papercraft Nordic Noel DSP
  • Ink:  Stazon Black for greeting, Tim Holtz Ranger Tea Dye Distress Ink for sponging around all pieces
  • Stamp:  Paper Smooches Sentiment Sampler for “Celebrate”
  • Signo White Gel Pen for white stitched outlines and eyes
  • Paper Studio Embossing Folder for feather texture and swirls
  • Punches:  SU Owl Punch and SU Bird Punch for cutting out turkey parts and SU Scalloped Tag Topper for Tag
  • Framelits:  SU Circles (second smallest for head, third smallest for round body part, largest for scalloped circle for cutting out feathers) and SU Ovals (smallest oval for body)
  • Tombow Mutli Mono Liquid Glue and Tombow Mono Permanent Adhesive Tape
  • SU Linen Thread to put on top of tag

Happy Thanksgiving Week!  I sure am thankful for all of you!

Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi

Forsythia Confusion

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forsythia watercolor card

Some of you may recall that Charlie mentioned yesterday how we saw Forsythia blooming right now in our little corner of the world….

in Mars, PA  –  where we are getting ready to transition from Fall to Winter in the next few weeks.

How could this be?

Forsythia blooms in the Spring!

It is one of the first signs of Spring.

Maybe we are skipping Winter this year…..

Wouldn’t that be a hoot!

Seems Mother Nature is very confused.

I do have to admit, it was quite exhilarating to see this unique and out-of-place pop of yellow Springyness amidst the stark brown Autumn branches.

So exhilarating that I felt compelled to do a little watercolor of them.

Cheers & Hugs,

Jodi

 

Winter Wonderland

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PP271 winter wonderland

I’m not pushing for this white stuff just yet!  But….

Our challenge this week at The Paper Players is just that:  Winter Wonderland, so I had a lot of fun creating this blustery scene for my Design Team Inspiration Card.

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For this card, I simply stamped the images from Recollections Winter Wonderland Clear Stamp Set onto watercolor paper.  I then painted some blustery cold snow with turquoise blue watercolor paint and some other small details like the scarf, carrot nose, stars and a teensy bit of shading.  While the blue paint was still a bit wet, I sprinkled on some silver embossing powder and heat set it.   I then added a little silver bow and matted it in matching SU Tempting Turquoise card stock and adhered all to SU Pumpkin Pie orange card stock. I added a few turquoise snowflakes to the inside also. I love how blue and orange look together, and now I have a card ready to send to someone soon.

Hope you will join in on the Winter Wonderland cardmaking fun at The Paper Players this week!

Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi

Bear hugs are the best

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bear hugs

Don’t you just love a “good” hug?!

A hug where the other person grabs and squeezes and embraces and holds on tight?

I always try to make it my thing to be the last to let go; and it is funny how sometimes I get into holding on battles with some of my friends and family who take me up on the challenge, and we keep hanging on and laughing and squeezing and hugging.

It’s just the best!

Did you know the average length of a hug between two people is three seconds?

But researchers have discovered when a hug lasts 20 seconds, there is a therapeutic effect on the body and mind.*

The reason is that a sincere hug produces a hormone called oxytocin, also known as the “love hormone.”  Oxytocin has a calming effect on the body and mind and can help us relax, feel safe and calm our fears and anxiety.

The best part is… this wonderful gift (a simple hug) can be offered free of charge every time we have a person in our arms.

Isn’t that empowering?

Doesn’t it give you hope in kindness and love and goodness and grace in our world (especially amidst crazy things happening like the awful Paris attacks yesterday) that you have something you can give at any given time to any person you choose right now that can make them feel better?

Not only are hugs a great gift, we all NEED them.  It has been said:

“We need 4 hugs a day for survival,

8 hugs a day for maintenance,

and 12 hugs a day for growth.”

So we better get busy!

Give somebody a bear hug today.

Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi

*Psychology Today

Waiting for Paint to Dry

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Woodland River Line and Wash Joanne Boom Thomas Watercolor Tutorial by Jodi McKinney First 9 x 12 1115 1

I am TRYING to learn
to wait for paint to dry.

It’s harder than you think!

This is my first 9 x 12 watercolor painting –
my largest to date.

It was done following a line and wash tutorial on ArtTutor by Joanne Boon Thomas.

AND with my very first few tubes of Winsor & Newton Professional Artist watercolor paint. OOOO LA LA!!
I treated myself to four tiny tubes – and was so excited to use Prussian Blue!

I see several things I would have liked to do different,
but it was a good practice in patience…

A practice in background, midground, and foreground…

Who knew it could be so fun…. waiting for paint to dry!!??!

Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi

Thanks ever so much and a Card Giveaway!

/ Jodi / 73 Comments

PP269 Let us Give Thanks Fall Theme Card

How did it get to be November already?!  (And as hubby reminded me yesterday, only a little over seven weeks until Christmas!)

I do enjoy this time of year with all of the holidays and preparations and family time.

November reminds me to be thankful, and our theme for this week’s Paper Players Challenge seems so fitting:  Let Us Give Thanks – Fall Thank You Cards (PP269).

So on this first day of November, I want to say Thank YOU ever so much my “lifeinbetweener” friends.  I so enjoy sharing this journey with you and appreciate your comments and kind words whether in the form of a like or comment here, on Facebook, Twitter, an email or card, or in person.  Thank you for sharing lifeinbetween.me with your family and friends.  I am always amazed when someones comes up to me and says something like, “My friend told me about your blog, and I read it every day,”  And then I love when they tell me what they like best – whether it’s the recipes or stories or photos or DIY cards or watercolor art or crafts or chuckles with Charlie – all the stuff I love to do “in between.”

I would like to send this card to one of you to use to send to someone you want to thank.  Simply leave a comment –  a simple hello or anything that is on your mind, and I will do a random drawing on Friday to choose someone to send this too.  I may even add another bonus card or two!

PP269 Let us Give Thanks Fall Theme Card flat

For my stamping and papercrafting friends, here is how I made this card:

  • I masked off an oval in the center of a piece of very vanilla card stock and stamped it with the Penny Black Script Letter Background stamp in Memento Black ink.
  • I then randomly stamped on top of the edges with the Inkadinkado Maple Leaf stamp.
  • This was followed by sponging the edges in three layers of color beginning with StampinUp Crushed Curry, Pumpkin Pie, and finally Cajun Craze inks.
  • I cut out two ovals with StampinUp Oval Framelits using #2 and #3 from the smallest – #2 in very vanilla and #3 in black.
  • Same sponging was done on the small oval as the larger piece, and then I stamped the Thanks ever so much Sentiment on using the Paper Smooches Pretty Phrases stamp set.
  • To put it all together, I matted with another piece of black onto a Crushed Curry Base.
  • Embellishments to finish it off included some dark brown candy dots, a bow of linen thread, and a ribbon of burlap.

Be sure to check out the other design inspiration cards by our amazing design team at The Paper Players and play along with us.

Thanks again friends, and be sure to leave a comment for the drawing!  I can’t wait to share this with someone.

Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi

A”pear”antly Pears!

/ Jodi / 43 Comments

pears in watercolor

I am having so much fun loosening up and watercolor painting while learning online with Art Tutor.  What a great way to learn and grow at your own pace with lots of great tutorials!

These pears are a practice in negative painting in watercolor that I did last weekend.

I lightly sketched two pears in pencil, loosely dropped some yellow and red in them, let dry, and then negatively painted in blue and red.

Trying to get my creative groove back – loosening up and having fun!

Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi

Autumn Bucket List

/ Jodi / 37 Comments

Autumn tree loose watercolor

  • Enjoy long walks kicking crunchy leaves and smashing acorns
  • Deeply inhale the crisp Fall air
  • Snuggle under blankets by a warm crackling fire
  • Sip warm spiked apple cider
  • Gobble up honey-sweetened candy corn
  • Buy Halloween candy for Trick or Treaters (that never come) – and eat it all
  • Bake apple cakes and apple crisps and apple pies
  • Wear hoodies and flannel shirts and yoga pants
  • Break out the fuzzy slippers
  • Watch football games and eat salsa and guacamole
  • Cook chili and stew all day long in a crockpot
  • Bake pumpkin EVERYthing
  • Roast salted pumpkin seeds
  • Burn cinnamon-scented candles
  • Sip dark, dry red wine
  • Jump in a pile of leaves
  • Learn a new soup recipe
  • Curl up with a good book
  • Write a long letter to a friend
  • Paint with red and yellow and orange
  • Hug the people you love

Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi