Noro Stripes

I have become obsessed with knitting Noro stripes. Two scarves of the Silk Garden two-row stripe from Brooklyn Tweed (cast on 39 stitches. K1-P1 ribbing, slipping the first stitch purlwise). Then -- how many scarves does one person need? -- socks of the Kureyon sock yarn in two-row stripes. I just love the colors, watching them change and blend as I knit away . . .

Happy 2009

There is something about January 1 that makes us want to turn over a new leaf, to make resolutions to be better than we are now. To begin again, and this time, maybe, to get it right.

I want to be more positive in 2009 -- to see the bright side of things, to count my blessings, to be happy with what is, rather than to focus on what is not. I can do that, at least. And if I am not any better at the end of 2009 than I am at the beginning, at least I can be more content.

I do have lots to be thankful for -- health, family, a secure job. No matter how dark the clouds, I will focus on being grateful for what I have.

ArtChix Birthday Card

This card started out with a kraft paper bag from World Market. I loved the brown-on-brown pattern and altered the paper with Golden fluid acrylic transparent red oxide and transparent yellow oxide, but I still felt it needed something, so I finished it off with a wash of iridescent gold deep (fine). Alas, the gold does not really show up in the scan.

Then I was stuck for a while. Finially I decided some of my gold german scrap might go well on it, because of the golden finish. The window is from ArtChix. They have a nice tutorial on painting german scrap. Once you get over the fear of ruining your scrap, it is an easy technique. This I gave a wash of raw umber craft paint. It tones down the gold.

The girls inside are also from ArtChix. They have great collage sheets. The girls with their presents are from the Happy Birthday sheet, so this became a birthday card.

The birthday packages in the girls' hands made me think of a gift tag. The text is stamped with Stamp Rosa D 58-599. I am a sucker for birthday stamps and have lots of them. To get the placement right, I stamped the text first, then cut out the tag with a template made from a Sizzix die-cut tag (using the waste paper as the template). A little distressing with some stamps and Colorbox fluid chalk cats-eye pads (from their queue line) and the tag and window were ready to adhere to the card with my trusty xyron. I just caught the edge of the tag under the window. I like the dimensional effect, but it does not really show up in the scan.

Oh, and I edged the card before I adhered the window and tag, using some Tim Holtz Ranger Distress ink.

Tags

I made these tags from paper that I had underneath papers that I had been painting with Golden fluid acrylics. I got the idea of using even the "underneath" paper for items from Lesley Riley -- she deliberately paints layers of fabric/paper. I cut tags using a Sizzix die and backed them with Basic Grey papers for added strength (and to give a finished look to the back). The simple addition of stickers from ArtChix completed the tags. I plan to use them for bookmarks, but a friend suggested that they could also be used for gift tags.

Inchies

I had fun making "inchies" and mounting them to display.

I am a fan of nine-patch quilts, so I decided to mount 9 inchies in a display. I used as background some paper that I had painted with dye (top middle and bottom first and last), some mulberry paper (middle first and last, and bottom middle), some printed scrapbook paper (top first and last), and a scrap of map (middle square). I decorated the inchies with punched heart and with stickers. I framed the inchies with paper punched with a McGill scallop square punch, then with black paper. I mounted the 9 inchies on foamboard covered with coffee-stained white mulberry paper.

Back from Seattle

I'm back home after two wonderful weeks in Seattle, working and visiting with my sister Kathy, her husband Chris, and their son Matt.

I made a thank-you card to send to them. Two kinds of Basic Grey Motifica paper; the top one is altered using a technique I learned from Tim Holtz' blog. I stamped stripes and embossed with clear embossing powder for a resist, then painted over it with green (mixed with a little brown) craft paint. When the paint was dry, I wiped the paper with a damp paper towel to reveal the paper. The Thank You is just green dymo tape embossed with the Dymo.

I hope they like it.

Mother's Day

I made a Mother's Day card today. The base is a white card. I sponged a little blue paint over the edges to pick up the blue in the Anna Griffith paper that I used as a background. The picture is from my first Christmas -- me and Mom and my twin sister. The lettering is a Stampington clear set with individual words good for making cards, stamped in Colorbox chalk ink in Warm Green over a piece of pink printed paper that I had. I sponged a little antique white paint over it to make it blend better with the background paper. A very simple card. I hope Mom likes it.