Take Me Home, Country Roads

I've been up to my eyeballs in paperwork while getting prepared for a meeting I'm having tonight with the parents of the girls in a new Daisy troop I'm helping to lead. (Side note: from that sentence, would you ever guess I was once an editor? "Could I buy a comma, please?") What I also used to be was a Girl Scout, many, many years ago. But this will be my first experience as a leader - wish me luck!

Anyway, it seems like my family and I have all picked up quite a few more extracurriculars this year, which is seriously cutting into my stamping time (I know ... WHAT?! LOL.) So today I thought I'd dip into my "rainy day fund" of projects not yet shown here. This, one of my all-time favorite cards ever, is a card that I made for the Splitcoast Dirty Dozen gallery last October (2008). Our theme that month was "For A Song," and our projects were all related to, or inspired by, music.

Here's what I wrote at the time:

Almost heaven, West Virginia,
Blue Ridge Mountain, Shenandoah River,
Life is old there, older than the trees,
Younger than the mountains,
blowing like a breeze

Country Roads, take me home
To the place I
belong,
West Virginia,
Mountain mama, take me home
Country roads

~Take Me Home, Country Roads by John Denver~

I grew up in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, very close to the Shenandoah River and nearby Blue Ridge Mountains, so this song speaks of home and brings back so many childhood memories. This image from Art Impressions seemed like a perfect fit for the song. The barn, rolling hills, and barbed-wire fence look just like a scene you'd expect to find along an old, country road.The image is stamped on watercolor paper and watercolored with various Stampin' Up reinkers. I embellished with burlap ribbon, buttons, and twine for an outdoorsy, country look.This month, each of the DD designers has selected a favorite project to feature. I'm choosing this one for two reasons. The first is the emotional connection to the scene in the image and to the song lyrics that inspired the card. Second, so many of my favorite things are incorporated into the design -- watercoloring, distressing, earth tones, and lots of texture and dimension. I hope you like it too!

Speaking of the Dirty Dozen, on the 20th of each month, some of the current dirty girls and DD alumni participate in a group challenge. This month's challenge is "You Want a {Paper} Piece of Me." The challenge is to paper piece and the required element is to use fall or Christmas colors. I wasn't able to play along this month, but you can check out all the fabulous entries throughout the day at keyword DCPOM1009 on Splitcoast.

Hope your week is off to a great start! Thanks for visiting!



Stamps: M-3180 Farm Window (Art Impressions)
Paper: True Thyme, Really Rust card stock (SU!); watercolor paper (Canson); "Simple Pleasures" dp (Close To My Heart)
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black (Tsukineko); various dye reinkers (SU!)
Accessories: aqua painter, edge distressing tool, sponge daubers, dimensionals (SU!); Garden Green buttons (Close to My Heart); burlap ribbon (SEI); branch punch (Martha Stewart); thin twine, sewing machine, thread
Size: 5 1/2" square

Fan Club Sneak Peek

It's been a while, huh? More on that another time, but right now, I have some really, really exciting news to share!! I know a lot of you are already familiar with the SCS Fan Club and the monthly Dirty Dozen gallery. In case you're not, each month, the Splitcoast Design Team, aka the Dirty Dozen, dirty girls, dirt pile, etc., get to create projects around a monthly theme, and then on the 15th of the month (that's today!), the gallery is opened up to the Fan Club members. Well, this month, Splitcoast has a big ol' gift for everyone - the December Fan Club Gallery is open to EVERYONE! Head on over and get registered as a member (it's FREE), then feast your eyes on this month's gallery! [June, that means you, too!]

Even more exciting than the opening of the gallery is the announcement of the two newest Dirty Girls. Each month, two designers rotate out, making room for two new ones. And this month's pair is a sure hit! It's a rockin' mother-daughter team: Dawn Lusk (DawnL) and Amber Hillman (bambi64). They've both dazzled us with their creations this month - you MUST see!

If the many perks of a Fan Club membership sound appealing, a one-year membership can be yours for the special holiday price of only $19.95 (regular price $24.95). Already a member? Consider giving Fan Club memberships as gifts!

From a purely selfish standpoint, I'm so excited about the gallery being public because I spend sooooo much of my stamping time on these projects and then can't show them here (sniff, sniff). This month, you can see some of what's been keeping me so busy that I haven't been blogging as much. How about a preview?



And a close-up?




See that fuzzy collar?! I used some Baby Pink Flower Soft to get that look. Her friend has an Ivory Flower Soft boa, and there's some on the pink lady's fuzzy boots, too. This stuff is soooooo cool! And super easy to use!

Now don't wait another minute ... run, run, run visit the complete gallery. Enjoy!

Happy 45th Anniversary!

I made today's card in honor of my wonderful parents, who today are celebrating forty-five years of marriage. How great is that?!?! Happy Annivesary, Mom and Dad!! I love you, and hope Terry and I grow up to be just like you!

I had the idea for this card in my head as soon as I first saw the sentiment "You're still the one" from Verve's new Feeling Groovy set. But I needed to find a suitable stamp. After searching through the online sites of many popular stamp manufacturers and finding nothing, I finally googled "old couple rubber stamp" and turned up an Etsy site with loads of unique (mostly discontinued) rubber stamps. This was almost exactly what I hoped to find. Isn't it perfect? What I love most are the man's shoes -- they look just like the Hush Puppies my dad got for Christmas every year when I was a kid. He's probably still wearing them!

The stamp is made by Art Impressions. (I don't see it on their website, so I suspect it's retired, but I do see lots of other fun images!). All of my coloring was done with Prismacolors and Gamsol. The paper is from Basic Grey's "Sugared" line.

Thanks for stopping by!



Stamps: sentiment from Feeling Groovy (Verve), old couple (Art Impressions)
Paper: Cranberry Crisp, Whisper White (SU!), Sugared (Basic Grey)
Ink: Memento (Tsukineko)
Accessories: Aged Copper Hodgepodge Hardware, Cranberry Crisp stitched ribbon, corner rounder, 1 1/4" and 1 3/8" circle punches, dimensionals (SU!); Prismacolor pencils, Gamsol, blending stump