Much Obliged

This card uses the Stampin' Sisters in Christ challenge this week and the Card Positioning system sketch. I used Laurie Wilson's Texas on my Mind set from Clear Dollar Stamps.

Last weekend my friend showed me this totally cool technique for dry embossing that she saw on Splitcoaststampers. I don't know who discovered this, but it is amazing to me. Then again, using an embossing folder & seeing the results is amazing. You use a balsa wood frame as the bottom part of a sandwich instead of whichever plate goes under your CB folder normally. Then, you put your paper in your CB folder & center it over the open part of the frame (mine was an oval frame). Put the rest of your sandwich together & roll through your machine. I had to add an extra layer of thin cardboard as a shim to get it to make a good deep impression. The result is the embossed part is on the edges leaving a blank area in the middle. Isn't that cool?

One of Laurie Wilson's projects was recently featured in Crafts & Things magazine. I've absolutely fallen in love with the magazine & try to pick up a copy when it comes out. I'm a "multi-media" crafter. Not that I do cool multi-media art, but I like a LOT of different crafts, so this magazine is great fun. They even have recipes! In this project, Laurie used a light shade of distress ink to just bring out some snowflakes. I decided to do the same with the stars on the white paper on this card. My ink was a tad darker. It was really just the leftovers from using Memento Rich Cocoa on another project. I was too lazy to go to garage where my bag is with my distress inks in it. That's another story. LOL! I thought it added a nice rustic look.

The challenge at Stampin' Sisters in Christ was to make a card showing thankfulness as we give thanks to the Lord and give thanks to those who have been kind to us. 2 weeks ago we had a garage sale on Friday & Saturday. My next door neighbor, Janie, came out & visited with me most of the day. We've only been here a few months, so it was very kind of her to do that. I got to know her a bit more. She's about my mom's age, so it's fun to talk to someone who is in a different place in life. Saturday her "kids" (adults with a son) had their garage sale. That night Janie invited us to dinner, but I was severely sunburned & aching and Bethany was sick. She brought us plates of brisket, potato salad & Mexican rice. I've wanted to make her a treat, but she is diabetic so I need to get some Splenda to bake for her. For now, I wanted to give her a card to thank her for being such a good neighbor. The Texas part, well, that's where we live!

Much obliged for y'all mosying up to my lil' ol' blog, partner.