"Frame Work"

Here is the frame and matching card that I made for the neighbor who had to put her Miniature Schnauzer to sleep a couple of weeks ago:

I covered the frame (chipboard frame bought at Michael's) in paper and then embossed the paw prints in each corner. I then embossed the two flowers on separate paper, cut them out, and then used foam sticky squares to give them a three-D effect. I used sheer polka dot shimmery ribbon to tie the bow, as well as a silver buckle to signify a colar. This is an ink pen drawing of my own sweet Gunther that I did in Photoshop from one of the photos I took of him. I put it in the frame for demonstration. See some close ups below:

I chose the black and white color scheme for this because she was a black Miniature Schnauzer. I put the pearls in the center of the flowers to represent the pearls she always wore when her "Mom" walked her here in the neighborhood. You can also see that I used "my technique" to make the paw charm. Below is the card I made to go with it. It also has the "charm" to match. Kinda makes them both a "set" of keepsakes.

That's all for now. I'm working on decorating a box for cookies that I'm going to give to the new neighbor that just moved in over the weekend. I'll post pics of that as soon as it is done.

Hope all is well with you! Thanks for stopping by, and come back often!

A Discovery for the Boys!

We went to one of the local parks today. The weather has been absolutely beautiful this weekend! As we were walking around this large pond, we came across this beautiful turtle. The boys had never seen a turtle before, and I think that Shotsy thought it was a ball at first. So he goes charging up to it, stopped abruptly, sniffed it, and then looked up at me as if to ask "What the hell is it, Daddy?" So I picked it up and it eventually came out of its shell and the boys were freaked out. I put it on the ground, and Shotsy just watched it with fascination, whereas Gunther viewed it in his normal style thinking it was something to eat. He was looking at me like "Daddy, don't let it get away, that could be lunch!" So, I put them in a stay, and put the turtle in the grass and took the pics of him below. I have never seen such a beautifully marked turtle. The boys just couldn't get over it. It was the first turtle they had ever seen. After I took the pictures, I put it close to the bank so that it could go back into the water, and sure enough that is where it headed. However, to my surprise, Gunther made a final attempt to not let the turtle get away. Yes, right into the mucky water he went almost pulling me in with him. Thank goodness the turtle got away. But that Gunther had to make a final attempt. He is a persistent one!

Wanted to also let you know that I'm working on a custom frame for a neighbor woman who just recently had to put her Miniature Schnauzer to sleep. Her name was Zelda, and she was 13 years old. She was suffering from dementia. I loved that little dog. When her owner Helen would walk her in the neighborhood, Zelda was always wearing a pearl necklace. She was quite the lady and I will miss her terribly. So I wanted to make this frame special so that it reflects Zelda so that Helen can put her favorite picture of her in it. I need to figure out how to incorporate the pearls. As soon as I finish it, I will post a pic of it here. I'm also working on a gift box to put cookies in for the people who just moved in across the street. So I'll put a pic of that up too.

Isn't this turtle beautiful? I love the markings on its shell. It was actually on the jogging path when we found it. . .ironic huh?

I put it by some little yellow flowers to "enhance" the photo! LOL always looking for the better shot!

These were turtles that were sunning themselves on a log out in the middle of the pond. Thank goodness for my zoom lens. I was happy I got the detail I did with these guys because they were way out there.

Hope all of you are doing well. . .come back soon for new updates. I've also updated the "Pic of the Week" at the bottom of this blog.

Best,



Curt

Haven't Had Much Time!

Haven't had time to do any cards yet! Well, that's not true. . .I did a couple of Mother's Day cards, but forgot to take pictures of them! I'm going to try to get my Mom's back so I can take a picture of it. Since being laid off, I've been doing so many "projects", that I've been too tired to haul my butt upstairs to do justice to cards. For example, I spent 3 hours cleaning out the garage yesterday along with running errands and grocery shopping. Took the boys to Micky D's for cheeseburgers just to get them out of the house because it was raining most of the day. With me being home, they have gotten used to going to the park at least once a day (if not twice!)

We bought a new van for Jay too. . .this one has a lift so that he can drive his wheelchair right into it and right into the passenger side. It is so much easier on me and him to get him places, and now we can go so many more places! He went to the park with us this week so he could watch Gunther go down the slides at the playground. He has only seen him do this in pictures. Once I figure out how to post a video to this blog, I'll have it up for all to see.

Anyway, wanted to do an update. I plan on doing some cards this weekend. Oh, I had to take Gunther to the vet this week. I found a small cyst type growth on his tail. They took a biopsy and it came back inconclusive. My vet says that's good because if it had been cancerous, it would have come back that way. So he said to just keep an eye on it. Always something to worry about, huh? I've posted a new pic of the week of them below.

Hope all is well in your world!

I Think I Discovered a New Technique!

OK, before I get all full of myself, I should say up front that I "think" I came up with this idea. That's to say, I have never seen this technique anywhere on the scads of sites I view on a daily basis. So, if someone has already came up with this, then I apologize for claiming it as my own. Even though I did come up with it by accident, I still think it is pretty cool, and all of you who I admire greatly for their fabulous talent (Julie Koerber and her Mom Pat for example) could probably figure out other things to do with this. So, again, if someone else has seen this somewhere, I swear that I did not copy this from anyone! I was actually embossing something, and some of my embossing powder stuck to a piece of tape that was on the paper that catches the excess powder. So I thought hmmmmm. . . . and used my heat gun on the tape with the powder. I was amazed at what it created. Below is my step-by-step instructions complete with pictures, followed by the card I made using this cool technique:

I start with a square I punched out with a punch. I think this is the 1 1/2 inch square punch.

Then, I take my trusty scotch double sided permanent tape and fold it over each edge of the square. You can make it any width you want by how you position it.

Trim off the excess at each corner.


Your square should now look like this. I hope you can see in the picture, you now have sticky tape forming a border around the complete square.


Now, sprinkle generously with embossing powder. I have only used silver or copper (here I'm using silver). There is a reason for that which you will see in the final "product". Once you have the embossing powder covering the square, use your finger to press the powder firmly onto the tape so that it sticks securely. Then shake off all excess powder.


Your square should now look like this. . .


Now, use your heat gun until the powder melts.


You can't really see it in this picture very well, but you now have what looks like a silver metal frame. It looks much like a silver tag of some kind. You'll see the results much better on the card I used it on. Just hang with me one more second. . .


I then stamp an image in the center that goes with the theme of the card with embossing ink. I used silver embossing powder here again, and heated it with my heat gun.


And here is the final results. They make great hand made embellishments! I attached this one with a jump ring to the ribbon. Below is a closer shot:


See? Don't they make great embellishments? I have already thought of other uses with the "embossed tape". By the way, these are not black and white photos. These are the actual shots.

Also, I was blowing my nose the other night (allergies) and noticed that the Kleenex box was kind of pretty, and I thought "that would make a nice card!" So, I started cutting on the box and this is what I came up with! They say you should always "think outside the box", but I actually used it!!! LOL I've also included a picture of the poor box too!







That's all for now. Again, if my "newly discovered technique" is not new, please let me know. If it is, then share it with everyone you know, or please have them come see it here on my blog.

Hope you have a great day! Thanks for visiting! I'll leave you with a couple of photos I took this morning of a tulip in my front yard and of dogwood blossoms. Happy Spring!

Best,

Curt

"God, please help me be the person that my dog thinks I am."