Paper Connection

Crafters can be so kind. I was so happy to receive some cards -- and flowers! -- from some crafty friends when I had my heart procedure a few weeks ago. I treasured those. Every day I'd look at the tulips and the cards and they made me feel connected and valued.

Receiving those gifts reminded me that I can do a much better job of reaching out to others in need of a paper connection (a/k/a a card). So, this card will go out to someone who needs a lift.

Used the non-butterfly stamps in a beautiful set by Penny Black called Butterfly Garden (gifted to me by PB).

I love this layout -- stamp the top and bottom edges and place a sentiment in the middle. Super easy.

Colored with Altenew alcohol markers, adhered some Pretty Pink Posh clear droplets and shaded the top and bottom edges with Frayed Leaf ink by Altenew. Looks like a one layer card, but the top layer is a separate piece adhered to an A2 card.

MOOD WHEN DONE: Awesome. My good friend visited last week and we went all Dallas tourist. Advice:  don't go to the boarding house where Lee Harvey Oswald was living. It is all out the creepiest place I've ever been. Still can't shake the feeling! Also: interesting that everyone referred to Oswald as the "alleged" assassin. Really?

I'm feeling great -- back to stamping, and occasionally cooking (my new least favorite chore) HA.

Springtime Birthday Wishes

I made this card a few weeks ago and thought the beginning of April would be a good time to share it. This was a snap to make -- trim the patterned paper, stamp the sentiment, color this Penny Black Together stamp with markers, stamp, redo to add shading, and add to an A2 card.  Love the combination of bright pink with the Modern Graphics black dotted paper -- wish I could buy that paper in bulk!

Supplies:  Penny Black Together; Penny Black Good Wishes sentiment set; Modern Graphics patterned paper designed by Julie Ebersole; Tombow Dual Brush Markers. (Penny Black let me pick out some stamps from its current Timeless collection and these are some of my favorites from that collection).

MOOD WHEN DONE: Hanging in there. I've pretty much recovered from the surgery to implant the defibrillator. I can start driving again in a few days and can start wearing clothes that have to go over my head to put on (it's the little things). Yeah!

However, to be honest, every heart thing leaves me a bit depressed. Not depressed as in I need a doctor, but just a little down. I guess it's that whole life/death thing and being away from so many friends. I'm keeping busy (seriously, this hobby saves me), which is always the best medicine. Plus gratitude for everything I have lifts my spirits. Just writing that sentence helps. Thanks for listening!

Using What I Learn

I'm having a lot of fun doing the Learning with Inspiration series and thought I would make a card that applies some of the lessons I've learned. (Several people assumed that the series was over -- it's not; I'm just taking a break from it.)

For this card I used some watercoloring tips I learned through studying Natasha Volkovskaya and Jill Foster. You can see my posts studying Natasha here and here (I can no longer find a good link to her blog but she remains very active on Instagram as Craft Away With Me.) You can find my posts studying Jill on the Penny Black blog here, here, and here.

• Nathasha makes fantastic backgrounds and by studying hers I was able to see that she leaves a fair amount of white space. Jill makes sure there is a lot of variation from light to dark. 
• I often use a flat brush for a background. A flat brush leaves a solid area of color. The color ends up being, well, flat! That can be a great choice, but I wanted to create something that mimicked water and sky and had some white space and variation in tone. 
• So, I used the water brush you can see in the picture below. The small tip allowed me to get the variation in color I wanted.
• Used dye reinkers for the paint, rather than watercolor paints. This is something Jill does a lot and it allows for more intense colors. The more water I added the lighter the color. I went over the butterflies, leaves, and flowers with reinker and very little water so that they did not get lost in the background.

Supplies:  Penny Black Butterfly Dance; Altenew Many Thanks; Adirondack Dye Reinkers (Sail Blue and Clover); Gina K cardstock; Canson cold press watercolor paper; Versamark; Wow Bright White Superfine Embossing Powder.

MOOD WHEN DONE: Happy! I'm posting cards made before my heart procedure, but I continue to improve and hope to be stamping soon. A good friend is visiting next week and I'm very happy about that!

BTW, this large cling stamp is from Penny Black and is one of several Penny Black stamps I bought recently. Add that to the ones Penny Black gave me and some I had, but never used, and you can expect to see a fair amount of Penny Black on this blog in the near future!

Learning Through Inspiration -- More Jill Foster

I've got 2 cards on the Penny Black blog today. It's my last post studying Jill Foster and I think you'll like it. At least I hope so!  Here's a couple of snippets of my cards.

MOOD WHEN DONE:  What a treat to be hosted by Penny Black. I learned a LOT from studying Jill. Such talent. Thank you so much!

Breaking News! Patent Pending!! Giveaway!

PRESS RELEASE

April 1, 2019

DEAR PAPERLICIOUS LLC OBTAINS PATENT ON INVISIBLE STAMPS AND DIES

Dallas, Texas, April 1, 2019/Real News Corp. Dear Paperlicious today announced the issuance of a patent on its new line of Invisible Stamps and Dies known as "Really Clear Stamps™ and Really Clear Dies™."

"I got tired of cleaning and storing my stamps and dies. 

I'm thrilled that I can leave 

my Really Clear Stamps™ and Really Clear Dies™ anywhere in the house 

and my husband won't be able to see them." 

This new line of stamps and dies also addresses the increasing amount of blatant theft design in the industry. "Thieves here in the US and China, and elsewhere, steal the designs of hardworking stamp companies and sell them online and at craft shows." Some customers buy these stolen stamps and dies without knowing that they have been stolen, but most purchasers are fully aware that they are buying stolen property. In addition to being illegal and unethical, this practice threatens the existence of many small companies.

"The sellers and the customers who buy stolen property

are no better than the thief who breaks into your house and steals your wallet and possessions. 

The number of companies whose stamp and die designs have been stolen, and the number of customers who knowingly buy these stolen products, is ** appalling. 

I had to do something."

Patent No. 4.1.2019 covers a groundbreaking new process and material by which clear stamps are, finally, really clear. And, because, once we graduate from kindergarten, we are unable to use scissors, all Really Clear Stamps™ will come bundled with coordinating Really Clear Dies™. 

The patent also covers a mechanism by which purchases can see their Really Clear™ stamps and dies -- a clever new device that permits the crafter to place the stamps and dies on a special electronic InVisibility Plate™. The InVisibility Plate™ will allow the stamps and dies to be visible for 30 minutes (90 minutes during certain time change periods). "We recommend that stampers remember where they've placed their Really Clear Stamps™ and Really Clear Dies™ in order to be able to put them on the InVisibility Plate™.  Note: the InVisibility Plate™is currently visible.

"The InVisibility Plate™ is pure genius."

For more information, please leave a comment below. All commenters will be eligible for the opportunity to giveaway some of their $$ to Dear Paperlicious to defray the costs of making and distributing these products. Winners will be announced soon.

All products will be available exclusively at well known legitimate craft stores no later than April 1, 2020.

** "is appalling" or "are appalling"?