This was a card I made about a month ago for a friend whose husband passed away quite after a very short illness. Her daughter is a good friend of my daughter. So Heidi and I did a bit of baking and I made this card for them. I don’t quite remember the techniques that I used. But I do like the stamp set and I will definitely be making more cards with it as I work my way through the AECP program during this years 100dayproject. I believe I used black versafine ink for the outline image which I heat embossed with clear embossing powder. I think it was a layering stencil rather than a layering stamp. Before making that card I had experimented using some watercolour markers to colour in the outline stamped image.
Streak Freeze Friday
I decided pretty early this morning that DuoLingo’s streak freeze idea was a good one. Rather than throw a streak totally out the window when you miss a day or two, give yourself some grace and just use a streak freeze to carry you through until you can pick it up again.
I had opted for a 7:30 swim before heading up to the cottage. So no morning walk with Luna, no no chance to write any words in my 750words website account in the morning, no time to draft a blog post, no time for crafting in the day. But plenty of time for grocery shopping and a few other errands on the way up. And some time for some basic cottage cleaning before 5 friends started to arrive. Then it was time for a leisurely charcuterie dinner and to start a puzzle before heading to bed. I am so glad I declared it streak freeze Friday very early on. No 1 km run. No one&done. No card making (although I may do a wee bit of planning of which stamp sets, stencils and other supplies I will use for some of my upcoming projects). But, best of all, no fretting about trying to cram too much into my day, no fretting about missing a day or two of my ‘daily’ habits. Just lots of time to enjoy getting ready for the weekend and enjoying the weekend. And, most importantly of all, hopefully an easy resumption of those habits after my girls weekend. But I will do a quick DuoLingo lesson before turning off the lights, just so I don’t have to use a Streak Freeze for every habit streak today.
AECP Card 3 | Spellbinders Door 23 | For my Best Pal
Below is my AECP card 3 (All About Layering Three – lesson 3) which I combined with using the dies from the 23th door of my Spellbinders Advent Calendar. Just one more card to make using the cute die that came in Door 24. This has been such a fun project to do along with my friend, Shelli.
AECP Card 3 (All About Layering 3 – Lesson 3) | Spellbinders Advent Calendar Door 23The inspiration for my Day 3 (All About Layering 3 – Lesson 3) card
In an ideal world, I’d have a finished Day 4 and Day 5 to share as well today, but that’s not the case. And I would already have typed up my thoughts about this Day 3 card, but that’s not the case either. I did make pretty good progress on my Day 4 (All About Layering 3 – Lesson 4) card and may be able to finish it over the weekend. But I’m leaving early tomorrow to head to the cottage for a girls weekend and don’t expect I’ll have much, if any, time to craft.
A good start to my Day 4 card (All About Layering 3 – Lesson 4)Barely a start, but still a start to my Day 5 card (All About Layering 3 – Lesson 5)
Thrown Off Thursday
I didn’t get up until about 7:00 this morning because I was up later than ideal last night. And somehow that has thrown off my day. I did get out for a walk with Luna which I enjoyed. It was really nice to run into a friend who was out with her dog whom I hadn’t seen for quite some time. So we had a quick catchup chat for a bit while our routes overlapped.
I have a lot that I want to fit in today and seem to be struggling with figuring out a suitable plan. I’d love to fit in a second swim this week – clearly 8:00 today was not the time slot for it. But perhaps 11:00 today will work or tomorrow morning. Roland wasn’t interested in running with me due to an achilles / foot issue so we walked Luna together. Then I had to eat. And so no run or one&done done yet. And no plan beyond writing a few words and spending some time my 100dayproject.
Rather than focusing on being thrown-off I’m chose to focus on a Throw Back Thursday.
So I went back into my old blog to find a post about cycling. I don’t have any posts about me cycling, but there were 4 about the children cycling. So one of those will be the focus of today’s blog post.
You may be wondering why I wanted throwback cycling post. Last night a friend asked for some suggestions about a challenge that she might do for her 60th birthday that is coming up in about 3 years. She found it inspiring that I had done a psuedo-triathlon for my 60th birthday. Day 1 was a 60 km run from the cottage to home. Day 2 was a 60 km ride from home to the cottage. Day 3 was a 6 km swim around the perimeter of our lake. Whenever I think about that birthday goal, I am always so grateful that I get to live in Ottawa and to have a cottage nearby. And that I had so many people join me on segments of that triathlon and in a celebration after each event. But I digress.
I was so lucky to have a great group of friends cycling with me for different portions of my 60 km cycle to the cottage. And some other friends who took photos.
I suggested to her that she completes sixty 60 km cycles before her 60th birthday. Which works out to 20 bike rides a year. Which works out to about one a week in the summer months. She seemed to like that goal. And, so I’m thinking about cycling. And thinking about setting a goal this year: sixty-two 62 km cycles before my 62nd birthday on 14 July. But, that seems overly ambitious. But who knows …
At the start of the 60 km birthday cycle. I’m looking forward to joining my friend, Diana, on several of her upcoming 60 km cycling adventures.
Throw Back Thursday
Day 39 – Pacific Rim, B.C – Best Cycling Ever
Tuesday July 8, 2003
This will be about our furthest point west: 3744 km from home according to the GPS. I didn’t have a good sleep – I had to get up twice to go bushy pee – I had had hot chocolate and tea to drink the night before to warm up. I’ll have to stop drinking around/past dinner. The children rode their scooters and played on the rings before breakfast eating some raisins between swings. We ate our cereal first, then Roland stayed around while the children ate theirs while I went down to the beach to poke around amongst the rocks then ran into Roland and the children along the path on my way back to the site. We stayed down on the beach for a while then set out to Radar Hill for a bit of a scenic view over the area although the views were limited due to low clouds. The children enjoyed their cardboard video cameras and didn’t like our goofing off while they videoed. From there we went into Tofino to have a look around (very busy place, seems much more developed than when I kayaked from there with Shelli many years ago). Roland took the children to the park while I bought a few groceries. We ate lunch while the children continued to play then they ate their sandwiches in the car on the way to Long Beach. It was fairly busy there – a number of surfers as well as lots of families and groups about. We spent some time on the log piles looking for a stick for Heidi to draw in the sand like Stefan had already found. Roland had the great idea to get the children’s bikes out and we all had a great time going down the beach to the Green Point part where we were camped. The children’s helmets were at the site with the scooters so they really looked wild and free with the wind blowing through their hair as they rode. We all, except Stefan, who already had very cold feet, waded in the rather cold Pacific Ocean before I set off back down the beach under a very light drizzle to get the car while Roland and the children flew Stefan’s kite. I saw them at the phones on the way back in and stopped there for a while. Colin wasn’t feeling well due to some surgery so we won’t be staying at their place in Victoria. Later in the day, I spoke to Joanne and we can stay with her instead. Roland started the campfire before dinner – cantaloupe with prosciutto as well as cucumbers for appetizers before our gourmet (but well liked) sloppy joe dinner. Since it was about 7:45 when we finished eating, Roland took the children to the theatre at the campground while I cleaned up then I joined them for an interesting program on bears and how we need to minimize them becoming accustomed to humans by keeping ‘bare’ campsites etc. The interpreter was very good so there was lots of audience participation including some new songs to familiar tunes. After the children went down about 9:30 I called Joanne then returned to the site, browsed through my magazine briefly then caught up on my journal. Overall, it was a good day, despite not terrific weather.
I am so glad that I kept a journal during our 3 month trip in June, July and August 2023. And that we took that time off work to enjoy exploring the western portion of Canada.
I made just a wee bit more progress on my Day 3 Altenew card (which will feature Spellbinders door 23) and and barely got started on my Day 4 Altenew card (it will be unlikely that whatever is behind door 24 happens to go with what I am planning for my Day 4 Altenew card but who knows, maybe I’ll be able to have a combined project again).
But I did get quite a bit of progress made on a card kit for my online cardmaking classes that I give for the Dementia Society. And, more importantly I had a great lunch and spent the crafternoon with Nancy and Eleanor. It is so nice to be able to visit with friends while working on my class kits. I equally enjoy seeing what projects my friends are working on and having them help me on my class projects.
And I played Pickleball in the morning and went with 6 other friends to play golf on a simulator. And so there was very little writing and very little 100DayProject progress.
Waiting Wednesday
Are you someone that tends to make others wait? Or do you feel like you tend to be the one waiting for others?
Luna had to wait for me this morning while I put out the garbage. I had to wait for her while she makes her snow angels at random spots along our walking route. She has to wait for me while I pause at the turn around point on our walk. I like to slow down for a minute at the small wooden bridge over the stream by the train bridge. This is usually my first ‘take 5’ of the day. I try to take 5 one-minute breaks each day where I practice being mindful, I breathe slowly and deeply for 5 breaths and try to pay attention to what is going on around me (my 5 senses) and within me (my thoughts, sensations, emotions, feelings). I have a bit of a mantra that I say with for those breaths: in, out; up, down; through, around; calm, ease; expand, relax. And, Luna has to wait for me then.
I have lots more thoughts on the topic of waiting but rather than having all this written in the morning, I am writing at 9:30 which is already past my bedtime. So I will have to . And you’ll have to wait until I have time to add my further thoughts on topic some other day.
Suffice it to say that I feel that I make others wait a lot more for me than I have to wait on others. And, that is one of the things that I’m working to improve.
I do have a few other cards from the Spellbinders Advent Calendar to share but that will have to wait as well.
Today I woke up feeling a bit off, like everything was all too much. And, so I took a bit of time to recall a few thoughts on the matter that I had recently given to Heidi when she was feeling overwhelmed.
There are actually very few things that we actually have to do. Three main ones in fact. The first is breathing. And we do that automatically. The second is consumuing fluides to stay hydrated. And that’s actually pretty simple and easy to do where we live. And third is consuming foods to have energy. And that’s actually pretty quick and easily done around here too. It’s definitely a bit trickier to consume nutrient-dense foods, but just consuming some food for energy it very doable.
Believe it or not, it helps to remember that. We can easily get our top 3 priorities in each and every day. And the rest is optional. Honestly, it’s all optional. Very few things are as pressing as our mind wants us to believe. Taking a step back to remember that can help reduce the overwhelm.
And, so I was able to enjoy my early morning walk. And I opted to move last week and this weeks new habits (a short run and the short one&done workout) to later in the day. So I was able to enjoy my breakfast and my swim with F. And I had enough time to enjoy the process of finishing getting the card kits and supplies ready for the in-person class I was giving at 11:45. And, I was able to enjoy my run (and did 3 km instead of just 1 km – and was able to talk with Shelli while I ran) and did my one&done workout). And, I made a card using door 22 of the Spellbinders Advent Calendar, and got started on a card inspired by anothe Altenew lesson for my 100dayproject.
I have a few other thoughts on Too Much Tuesday that I had hoped to share, but they’ll have to wait for another day. Because I want to spend just a few more minutes on my 100dayproject before heading to bed.
Spellbinders Door 22 (pink sequins) | Congrats
Spellbinders Advent Calendar Door 22 (pink sequins)
main products: pink, yellow and blue sequins and circle confetti stencils from Spellbinders Advent Calendar, Altenew inks, circle dies from SCT Crop and Create Cardmaking class, congrats and onesie dies from SCT Celebrate online class kit, circles embossing folder from provocraft.
Door 20 had 3 layering circle / confetti stencils.
Spellbinders Door 20 | Happy Birthday Wishes
I liked how the sequins went quite well with the circle / confetti look of the layered stencils. It would haave been nice to have had a diecut shape of some type in the centre for added interest. A birthday cupcake would have been nice. My friend, Shelli, who gave me the Advent Calendar put a die cut sundae in the centre of her confetti and it looked great. I’m not sure if I should have had the yellow die cut curly streamers on both sides of the card; it may have looked better just having it on the right hand side?
Main Products: Spellbinder Advent Calendar door 5 curvy streamer die, door 9 yellow sequins, door 18 blue sequins, door 15 embossing folder, door 19 habby birthday wishes stamp and door 20 circle / confetti layering stencils. Altenew Inks: Fresh Lemon, Teal Cove, Aqualicious; Stampin’ Up! Hello Cupcake stamp set.
Last week’s ‘one tweak a week’ was to add in the 11-12 minute ‘one&done’ workout habit. I’m happy to report that I did the ‘speed’ workout every day last week. And I feel so much better for it. I’m starting to regain a bit of flexibility. This week I’m going to do the ‘agility’ workout. It’s easier to do the same workout each day for a full week.
This week’s tweak is still on the ‘moving’ theme. So, after my morning walk, Luna and I went for a 1k run. In the past I’ve enjoyed having a 2k/day run streak, but I don’t think I could be consistent at 2k this time around. So I’m aiming for 1k/day. Right after my walk. I may end up moving my ‘one&done’ to before my walk.
Someone had commented that, now that my mom has passed, it may seem like I have a lot more time. I estimate that I was spending about 10 hours a week on visits with mom, including driving time. So mom’s Celebration of Life, I started to think about what ‘moving on’ would look like. If you were suddenly to have 10 more hours in your week how would you want to spend them? I’m going to try to use one hour each day to build back up some great daily habits. And to use the other 3 hours a week on weekly habits. But I’m building up those habits gradually.
AECP Card 2 | You Made my Day
The second lesson of the All About Layering 3 class included a technique of spraying some black ink on the background. I really like the look of some random black ink dots on a card so I decided to invest in some black ink spray. And I repurposed a cardboard box to become my ‘spray box’. The lesson video (which I had watched 6-7 weeks) ago had recommended masking the sentiment so it is still legible. I decided to use another of the white ‘wood’ frame card fronts that I had made when I was working on Day 1 projects, so I had to mask that area off. And, I had glued my flower cluster down before spraying so I had to mask that area off as well. I decided to try masking with strips that I had cut from cellophane packaging that was going to go in the garbage any way. It worked well to see what I was masking.
AECP Card 2 | I used a frame again for my card today but added in some black spray ink.This is the Day 1 card. I prefer the frame in my Day 2 card. I’ve included a photo of a few other frame sizing options as well.
However, I did have some lessons learned: 1) it is better to cut closer to the edges of the mask; 2) it is better to spray before putting down a frame or your flower cluster; 3) the spray bottle makes a very fine mist – if you want to have just a few random dots it is better to take the spray mechanism off the bottle and simply gently tap it so that random dots of ink splatter on your project (I went back to rewatch the video since mine had come out so differently than what I had expected – I actually don’t mind the look I got – it was just different); 4) cellophane doesn’t make a great mask because the ink doesn’t absorb into it – I had to be very, very careful removing the mask so that I didn’t get black ink everywhere on my card front; 5) you can add in extra fine and not so fine black dots with a marker if you make your mask too big.
I think it might be nice to put some black enamel dots into the centre of the flowers to continue with the black accent design element.
The card I made yesterday had the frame’s outer edges sized at 4-1/4″ x 5-1/2″. I decided to try a few different sizes. I liked the 4″ x 5-1/4″ the best. I think the 3-3/4″ x 5″ frame is a bit small. I also tried to make some unmitered frames which was certainly easier than mitering them. They look fine too, just a different look than mitered. I also think it would be interesting to try ink blending the frame planks – that may be a bit tricky to do on the panels that I already have frames adhered to.
I liked the mitered 4″ x 5-1/4″ frame the best, but it was worth trying out the unmitred frames (which are way easier) and the smaller frame with the larger matting. You don’t know what you like better until you actually try some options.I will try to ink blend the panels to make a darker rather than white frame on future cards. I think it will be best to cut the panels before blending to make sure that all of the edges are appropriately inked. This was my trial spray; I should have realized then that it wasn’t going to turn out like the sample class card. That might have been the better time to re-watch the video.The celllophane had potential for a masking material – it was nice to see what what underneath when I was trying to cut the mask down to size.This is how the spray looked. It was a bit tricky to remove the cellophane that had undried ink on it.I should have masked very tight against the sentiment and the flower cluster. Nothing that a black pen and/or marker won’t fix.This is a screenshot from the class video that shows how you can take the end of the spray mechanism out of the spray bottle and gently tap it to create a random splatter of black ink spots as an alternative to spraying from the bottle, which gives a much finer mist. Notice how much less masking there is to do if you only need to mask the sentiment rather than a whole frame and your flowers.This is the sample card from the class (Lesson 2). Mine looks totally different due to the smaller flowers I used, the different colour that I used, a less bold sentiment, the fact that I added a frame and that I had a fine spray mist rather than splatters from the black ink. I think I will try again in the future to make another card more similar to this one using products that I have on hand.
Creative Treats 