Technique Tuesday: Stained Glass

For our technique class, I finally had a chance to use the Flower Garden embossing folder.

The Stained Glass technique usually uses heat embossing on vellum, followed by coloring on the backside. For our intermediate technique, we used dry embossing instead.

Paper: Wild Wasabi, Tangerine Tango, Whisper White, Beyond the Garden DSP, Vellum cardstock; Ink: Wild Wasabi marker, Tangerine Tango marker, Daffodil Delight marker; Accessories: Pearl jewels, Scallop Trim border punch, Flower Garden embossing folder, Big Shot, Glue dots.

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Sunrise, Sunset...

Here are some Aruban horizon shots, a couple different sessions each...

These sunrise photos were not easy. The rest of the house are not early risers, and I'm not on the car rental agreement. So I had to hoof it. I had three incidences with pairs of dogs, making me feel less than safe. And one thought they had to worry about thieves while on vacation!

And I did finally get the house up to join me for a sunrise visit to the Alto Vista church -

And a couple sunsets -

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FM27 Double, Double, Toil and Trouble!

Today's Mashup is a fun one! Halloween - yay!

So here is the "Mashup" Challenge :

1. Make a "Halloween themed" Project.
2. Or Make a Project using the colors: "Black, Pumpkin Pie, Lucky Limeade & Concord Crush".
3. Or "Mash it Up" and create a "Halloween project using the Colors listed above".

Truth be told, these colors were too bright for the sinister stamp set I was looking to use. With non-traditional color combos, brayering always works! So there I turned.

Now, another confession, I got a little too enthusiastic with the brayering, and the colors muddied a little in the middle. But this is the last card standing between me and vacation, so what'cha gonna do? I may go back to it later to fix it.

Also, notice my little sunset at the bottom. I should have used a slightly lighter sponging hand. All a learning experience.

I also used the Creating Pretty Cards sketch challenge on Craft Project Central.

Stamps: House of Haunts; Paper: Pumpkin Pie, Concord Crush, Lucky Limeade, Basic Black, Whisper White, Pick Your Poison DSP; Ink: Pumpkin Pie, Concord Crush, Black Stazon; Accessories: Sponge, Brayer, Lucky Limeade ribbon, Rhinestone Jewels, 3/4", 1" , and 1-1/4" Circle punches, Dotted Scallop Ribbon border punch, Spider Web embossing folder, Big Shot, Sewing machine, Thread, Dimensionals.

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Exotic Pets

The family is into animals... BIG time! While in Aruba, it was a lot of fun to see many different kinds, up close.

Gecko in the cabana -

and baby gecko in the kitchen sink one morning.

Another (tortured) pet Little Missy found was a hermit crab at the beach.

The lizards run around here like squirrels at home.

We found iguanas sitting on top of the cactus right behind the rental house.

But even more up close, they were running around like cats on the Renaissance Resort property.

You think I'm joking... but I mean, literally...

Ok, maybe that was a little fake, because a tourist had just finished feeding them fruit.

One night a burrowing owl was after the (very large) toads in the yard, which had come out because the flying ants were around. We saw another one in Arikok National Park.

Wild goats, also in the national park -

There are boa constrictors here too (not indigenous but rather caused by someone letting one/some free). I didn't think you would want to see one that got squished by a car though.

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PCS Sneak Peek: Sweet & Sinister

Now is the time to sign up for this month's issue of Paper Crafter's Sample, a spooky issue called Sweet & Sinister. Get ready for some fantastic, hair-raising ideas! This issue is stocked full of eight creepy and cute Halloween projects!

And here is the sneak peek of my project.

The ladies were bowled over when they saw my project in person. I might have to add a *secret* class to my schedule.

Please go to Paper Crafter's Sampler to sign up for exclusive access to the online database and full assembly instructions. Remember to use code PCSHB, so Melanie knows I sent you.

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SUOC29 Leaf Me Alone!

Today at Stampin' Up Only Challenges, we are creating cards and projects with leaf images. I do have a ton of leaf stamps, and I love them all, but I wanted to try something different that I saw at a recent stamp show.

I had a bunch of trouble with this card. I started with the main image, and that all went fine. The layout was giving me fits, no DSP matched, grrrrr! I went with a simple square card, because well, we need to move on!

I should just stick rolled flowers on every card, because I just love them! They make me happy.

Paper: Crumb Cake, Early Espresso, First Edition DSP, Love Letter DSP; Ink: More Mustard, Old Olive, Cherry Cobbler, Soft Suede, Soft Suede marker; Accessories: Sponges, 1/2" Circle punch, 3/4" Circle punch, Pearl Jewels, Color Spritzer tool, Circle Scissors Plus, Leaves #2 die, 3" Circle die, Square Lattice embossing folder, Big Shot, Sewing machine, Thread, Dimensionals.

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I've Got My Toes in the Water, Toes in the Sand...

This is what we've been up to for the past days... hanging out in Aruba. This is our first time here, and I thought it was going to be 80's. Well, 90's every day, humid, and HOT, HOT, HOT! My running and biking took a big nose dive, and we spent every day swimming and snorkeling. On the flipside, my lap swimming yardage has been way up.

Arashi Beach -

Baby Beach -

Malmok Beach -

With a little bit of training in the pool, so she wouldn't be scared, my daughter snorkeled (with Papa). I am so proud of her!!

Some goofing around near a divi divi tree at Arikok National Park.

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