It's All About The Journey

A Cardstock Review And a RAK

When I asked those of you who visit my blog what you would like to see more of on my blog I received mixed answers. Here is what you asked for. Altered items, more of my photographs, more cards,and more of my reviews on the tools and other products that I buy. Tonight I am going to review the card-stock that I use. Something I consider a must have when I make a card, scrap a page or alter an item. As a rule I use only 3 different cardstocks. I have used other card-stocks but I always come back to these three.Stampin'UP!, Prism Papers and Papertrey Ink.

  

Stampin' Up! card stock as most of you know  all ready has a wonderful card-stock weight of 40 pounds.Love this weight. The colors are separated into six different families. Neutrals, Bold Brights,Earth Elements (My favorite), Rich Regals, Soft Subtles and In Colors.My favorite thing about using this card-stock is that  Stampin'UP! has made inks, ribbons and other embellishments to match their card-stock and designer papers. Personally this has made it a lot easier for me to design a card. I love when every thing matches.

The thing that I love most about this card-stock are the gorgeous colors.There are over 81 colors to choose from. Another things that I really like about this brand of card-stock is that One side  very smooth while the other side has a wonderful texture to it making it very versatile. I wish I had the weight of this paper but I do not. I can tell you that it is not a super heavy card-stock. Never the less it works beautifully. Trust me when I tell you that the colors are yummy.

Last but certainly not least is the newest card-stock from Papertrey Ink. Sorry about the picture because I have not done this paper justice. I do not have a swatch book and grabbed just 3 of the 10 colors that are available at his time. Each month 2 more colors are revealed and ready for purchasing. While I like the colors very much especially the Lemon Tart and the Pink Blush the reason that I love this card-stock is the weight. It is 110 pounds. Because my favorite thing to make are cards this weight really works for me. If you like using Kraft card-stock I highly recommend the PaperTrey Ink brand hands down!  This new card-stock line also offers ink and ribbons to match each card-stock color another plus for me.

I use all 3 of these card-stocks because each of them offer something that the other does not. I hope that my review on these products has been helpful. If you have any questions please feel free to ask me. If I have the answer I will let you know. If I do not have the answer then I will certainly try to find it. Now what card-stocks do you  use and recommend?

Now I have something that I would like to share with all of you and then I will be writing about what I have been up to. I promise to keep that part short. :)

 

Yesterday I received this gorgeous card from Cheryl Horton. My picture does not do her card justice at all. In person you can see the sparkle and color so much better.This card truly did make me stop and take  the time to look at it closely. And if that wasn't enough ...................... Cheryl also sent me some lovely country inspired stamps. All I can say is how lucky am I .

Okay, I have been extremely busy going to appointments every single day this week. In between my appointments I have also been shopping for birthday gifts that took me to many stores.I have done my weekly  food shopping, fit my walks in each day, visited Stamping Memories andArt Plus and of course I had to purchase a  few stamps at each store. Just had to. :) I stopped off at Scrappin'Soul Sisters my local Scrapbooking store to pick up somee designer papers and buttons. Yes, I had to have that stuff too. Ha-ha. I spent most of Thursday buying more things for Wayne's birthday, picking up his cake that I ordered for him and then when I got home at 9 PM I began wrapping all of his gifts, grabbed something quick to eat, finsihed the laundry I started before leaving ny home and before I knew it Wayne came home from work. As some of you may not know, Wayne and I celebrate birthdays' and other holidays at midnight. Si Wayne opened his gifts and we had cake. Today was Wayne's Speed Limit birthday or as other might call it his double nickle birthday. Either way I think it was a good one for him. We went out to diner at the The Out Back restaurant,his favorite place to eat. After going to his favorite store to shop (Best Buy) we came home. He decided to play with his Xbox 360 and I went for a walk. Now here I am doing this very long post.

One last thing. I made a new goal for myself a few weeks ago. I have given myself until this coming Wednesday to meet it. I am no where near to meeting it. So for the next few days I will be very busy working on that. What is it I am doing? I will tell you after Wednesday. :)

I hope that all of you are having a great weekend. Despite the Nascar races this weekend we are too. We live only 3 miles away from the track so we get lots of traffic and on Sunday we can not leave our home because our road is closed off until very late. Smile. :) 

My Friend

Tonight I made a card without using a stamp for my main image. This is a very different way for me to make a card but I enjoyed making this one so much that I hope to make more like it. I hope you like it too. :)

~Stamps:

Polka Dots Backgrounder from Cornish Heritage Farms. Sentiment from Clear Arts Stamps purchased from Stamping Memories.

~Image:

Amy Butler Die-Cut cardstock.

~Card-stock:

Kraft, Sweet Blush and Spring Moss fromPapertrey Ink. Very vanilla from SU.

~Ink:

Vintage Sepia from VersaMark. Wheat from VersaMagic

~Accessories:

Sheer ribbon from Offray.

The card size is 4 1/4 X 5 1/2" The punches that I used are 1 1/2 " and 1 3/4" in size.  

I knew immediately how I wanted to make this card so it came together quickly.

I have had a busy week so far and it will continue to be busy for the rest of the week. However,I have had some fun in between all of the running around that I have had to do. Like picking out birthday presents for Wayne and Molly, taking a walk today, going to Stamping Memories and visiting with the ladies and talking on the phone with some awesome women. I have been out straight for the past 2 days. But enough about my busy days.

I put up my photography blog last night. I have only put two photo's on it so far but in time I will add more. If you would like to receive the updates to it then please subscribe to it. It's simply called: Photos's By Mary C. Anderson. Not a very creative name for my new blog but that was the best that I could come up with.

As you all know by now I am long winded but tonight I think I will keep this post short. I hope that all of you are having a great week so far. Smile. :)

Hoo Loves You

I have not made a card using stamps from A Muse in a very long time. I think it is fair for me to say that it has been  about a year. As you know A Muse stamps are easy to use and designing a card with them is fast and easy to do. Late last night when I made this card I wanted to keep it simple so when I found some A Muse stamps that I had forgotten all about I decided I would use them. I am trying very hard to use all of the stamps that I have before I buy new stamps and so far so good. :)

The card that I used is a square card 4 1/4 x 4 1/4". It is from A Muse as are the stamps and the little bling.

I used Old Olive and Whisper White card-stock from Stampin UP!  I used Vintage Sepia ink from Versafine and the brown sheer ribbon is from May Arts. The ovals were made by using my Mega and Giga scallop punches from Marvy Uchida. I also used little plastic eyes on the owls. I love those eyes! :) 

To color my images I used the Woodless Color Pencils from KOH-I-NOOR which can be purchased at Gina K. Designs. 

I would love  to hear what stamps you have used recently that you found made a fast an easy card.

I have been very busy the past few days. Lots of errands to run and appointments to keep. I have also been taking time to go outdoors and take some photo's and I have one that I will share with you in this post. I have been walking every evening and that has been my time for unwinding. The time that I get to relax and clear my mind. While walking I am also taking in my beautiful surroundings, listening to the evening sounds and saying hello to the people that are crossing the same paths that I am. It's funny but as you get older it truly is the simple things in life that can bring you peace and joy.

Yesterday after one of my errands I stopped into the Ritz Camera store in Concord  and after talking to the manager about the Concord Photo Club I decided I would join it. It was my good fortune to be able to attend my first photo outing with the group today. We had 3 models and we took portraits of them for 3 hours. It was a blast and I learned a few neat things I did not know. I love some of the pictures that I took and I wish that I could share them with you but I don't think that I am allowed to because these young ladies are professional models and I did not ask permission to post their pictures. Next time I will ask. :) After my trip today Wayne and I went ot Juliette's (granddaughter) 6thbirthday. She is such  beauty and so girly. It's hard to believe that she is 6 already! Okay enough of my chatter.

Here is a picture that i can share with you and I think it goes with the card that I made.

 Well they aren't owls but they are male and female finch's. It took me 2days to get some pictures of these lovely little birds but I did it and I got lots of shots before they realized I was there.

Tomorrow is a busy day for Wayne and I. Lots of things around the house need to be done and I have some projects that I am working on. I am also working on my photography blog and sure hope to have some things posted to it so that I can share it with all of you by the end of next week. By tomorrow night Motorcycle Week will be over here in NH. It is great to have lots of people from other states come to our area but I sure will be very happy when it is quiet here again.

I hope that all of you are having a wonderful weekend so far. I hope that your able to take time to simply stop for awhile and just breathe! Smile. :)