Hello! Just a courtesy reminder that I’ve moved my stamping to Blogger. You can find me at the new Running With Scissors… here. Thanks so much! Continue reading

Come visit me at the *new* Running With Scissors… Thank you! Continue reading

Just a note to let you know in advance I’m moving my stamping to a brand new Blogger blog. It’s prettier, and I think it will eliminate the occasional difficulty some folks have trying to leave comments. My first stamping post there will be Monday, July 25. However, it’s live now if you’d like to take a peek and subscribe by email or a reader. It’s still called Running With Scissors… <------- That’s the link to the new blog. I hope to finish up a few more details between now and Monday, but I have a feeling I’ll be working... Continue reading

Here we go with another Double D Challenge, friends. Darlene’s favorite color is purple, so it stands to reason she was going to present us with a purple challenge at some point. Well, today’s the day – Shades of Purple. And when Darlene says “purple”, I do purple. I’ve used my brand new Dynamic Duos: Foxglove and Ranunculus clear stamp set from Power Poppy and colored with Prismacolor pencils on 140 lb hot press watercolor paper. It came out looking watercolored. Interesting. I’m experimenting with different papers for Prismacolor pencils. This may not be “the one”, but it worked pretty... Continue reading

Hello, again! I’m back to coloring today and this time it’s all done with dies. I buy these large dies and then I hardly get around to using them because I’m always wanting to color something, so today I watercolored the die cut. This Rose Bouquet die is new to me, from a 75% off all Die-namites sale at Dies R Us recently. How could I not take advantage of that? Amazing how many dies you can pick up for a very small cost at such a discount. I put a soft watercolor blend on the background and added glitter... Continue reading

Well, we made it to Friday! I still look forward to the weekends even though I’m retired now (pinch me, I’m dreaming). It’s a mindset 30 years in the making. I’ll be staying home, most likely, and I hope you’ll be doing something that makes you feel happy and relaxed. Somehow watercoloring has always been relaxing for me. I’d hoped to make today’s card more painterly, but I’d stamped the image in such a light ink that it required me to work some of the details back into it. A little more time invested than I’d planned, but there was... Continue reading

Hello, there! I’m back with something fun today, again in the spirit of the 30 Day Coloring Challenge. I colored this on Day 2. It’s a birthday card for a girlfriend who doesn’t go so much for flowers and girly things, but I’m pretty sure she’ll get a kick out of this. My Bugaboo Hey Chickie has moved her nest out in front of the coop as it’s just too hot inside. She has a lovely home, doesn’t she? I cut the chicken wire from light gray cardstock and sponged with rust ink. The leafy border was cut from white... Continue reading

I’m taking Kathy Racoosin up on her 30 Day Coloring Challenge this month. It started on the 5th, which is when I colored this, but I had other posts scheduled so had to wait to share. The idea is to do at least a little coloring every day, even if only for five minutes. I don’t imagine I’ll be able to finish a card every day, as it takes me almost as long to decide what to color as it does to actually color it. From among the many stamps I had out on my desk I chose to use... Continue reading

Happy Friday, all! The other day when the wind was blowing raucously through the tree tops I hunkered down in my stamp room long enough to make a card. I used my Peony Love digital stamp from Power Poppy. What a beauty! I’ve been meaning to get this one colored up for a long time. Since I needed a thank you card I chose a sentiment from the Potted Primroses clear set. After coloring with Copics I cut out the center with a craft knife. Layered that onto the green which I’d cut a hole in with a circle die.... Continue reading

Hello, there! Back to business as usual after the 4th of July weekend. I actually did a little crafting so I’ll have something to share this week. I couldn’t resist Diane’s Double D Simply Gingham Challenge so I sat down and made a quick card. There’s not one iota of stamping or coloring here, but sometimes it just happens that way. I did crack the seal on a couple of new-to-me dies, so I’m happy about that. My little flower pail and border is made from some ancient gingham paper. Some of the first designer paper I ever bought, in... Continue reading

Yikes, it’s July already! Really? Heck, I’m just starting to get the hang of summer. I have quite a few birthdays to celebrate this month and some cards are already made, but I need more. There goes my stash. Luckily I’m happy to replenish, especially the birthday cards. They’re always fun. This one was made with a new-to-me set which I think is so cute. It’s Penny Black Touch of Whimsy. Lots of darling stamps in this set and I’m looking forward to using the rest of them, but I’ll start with the bicycle. While I’m trying to focus on... Continue reading

Hello, there! I’ll just pop in with a quick post today to share this Delicate Twining Asters card I made a couple of weeks ago. They were still on my desk from another card I shared previously and I decided to have another go before setting them aside again. I went a little playful by using a cheerful Stampendous sentiment and dotting around all the curves and curlicues. I do make a lot of get well cards for my one customer. She picked up a sizeable order recently so I’m starting to work on the next batch. No hurry necessary,... Continue reading

On a beautiful summer day the world seems so big and amazing there’s nothing for it but to, as they say, “get out there”. I was hoping to make this a weekend post, but the weekend went by in a blaze of sunshine and I couldn’t sit at the computer long enough to get it together. So, here I am today, sharing a bit of life here on the southern Oregon coast. It’s a lovely vacation spot, but it’s also where I live and some days I like to just make like a tourist and enjoy it. Two friends and... Continue reading

Hello, again! I’m popping in today with a card that looks nothing like my original concept for this image, but I do love how it worked out. You see, I’ve had this Power Poppy Flowers Always digi printed and awaiting color for a while and even had the papers all picked out for it. Then along came the Dies R Us Butterflies Challenge and I remembered I’d cut this butterfly border and hadn’t used it yet and… well… put the two together, wrap some ribbon and tie a bow… Of course, I did some Copic coloring first. Kept it as... Continue reading

Happy Monday to you, my friends! This Monday is bird day here on the blog. I may have mixed up the species in my coloring, but he’s still a handsome fellow. I was determined to use this gingham frame which I’d made some time ago but never used and therefore it was relegated to the card parts basket. Today it’s a frame for my Bugaboo Spring Bird. The frame is was created with a Sizzix Elegant Wreath embossing folder. I cut out the inside, as you can see, and added some punched flowers with black sparkly centers. Coloring of the... Continue reading

My days have been so full of summertime activities I don’t know how I find time to stamp at all, yet here I am again with more. This time it’s Power Poppy’s Juicy Strawberries digi. I sure did figure I’d be using gingham with this image, but I had this strawberry paper. . . So I made a frame and added a little something in the corner. I’m not quite crazy about the arrangement of the corner elements, but I wanted them all on there and after fussing over it too long I decided to just let it go. I... Continue reading

We’re sure seeing a lot of masculine cards all over Blogland recently, aren’t we? Well, that’s what happens when we get close to Father’s Day. We’re focusing on masculine cards for our Double D Challenge today, too – One for the Boys! Now, it doesn’t have to be a Father’s Day card. The card I made is for a birthday. I used Power Poppy’s Move the Soul clear stamp set. I don’t know much about motorcycles other than how I enjoyed clinging to my boyfriend on the back of his bike in the old days – pre-Rich, of course –... Continue reading

Hey, there! I finally stamped! A girl can only go just so long without getting inky, so that’s what I did for today’s card – some good, old fashioned “ink rubbing”. That’s what I’ve always called it because I don’t use a sponge. I rub the ink into the paper using a wad of bathroom tissue. Paper towel would work, too, but that roll of bathroom tissue is so handy on my stamp table. The ink rubbing started with an old SU! color called Gable Green. Remember that one? I’m loving it all over again. Gable Green in the lower... Continue reading

Hello, friends! I’m back to stamping as it was time to make a birthday card for a 30 something guy friend. He doesn’t fish or hunt or work on cars, but he loves my dogs and he’s a kid at heart, so I made this for him: He’s heard Wally sing with his squeaky so I’m sure he can imagine Wally dancing, as well. At any rate, I think he’ll get a kick out of this happy pooch. I used the sketchy version of Sassy Cheryl’s Don’t Stop the Music. The sketchy illustration sure made coloring easy. I just followed... Continue reading

Honestly, I will get back to stamping soon, but thought I’d invite you in, once again, to share some of the doin’s that keep us so busy around here. Rich is glad to have the June hedge trimming behind him now. This is the street side before trimming. Yes, it’s long, and I’m sure it seems infinite at the start of the job. But that’s not all. Pictured below is the side that separates our driveway from the one next door. Rich trims their side, too, because it’s our hedge. Somehow he stays good natured throughout the whole ordeal. Here’s... Continue reading

Hello, friends! Even though my to-do list is full of garden chores, I took some time to stamp. It’s not like when I was working and I had such limited free time. I can pick and choose now that I’m retired. Love that! My friend asked if I would make her a twins baby card, so that’s what I chose to do. A boy and a girl. So sweet! You can see I kept it simple. Honestly, I wasn’t sure what to do for a twins card until I remembered my Stampin’ Up! Zoo Babies set (critters) and Impression Obsession... Continue reading