It's my birthday!

Sorry for not posting lately! I've been trying to get three LTC sets made all at the same time and it wasn't going as well as planned. The handle with care LTC was made for the CATS swap. I'm debating whether to take a picture of the card opened or not. I know this is a spoiler blog but sometimes it's best to experience things in person. If you are getting this card, cut the silver tape carefully. It may work best to cut the sides first so that the middle can be raised up a little. Also if you got a funky colored version of this, it's because I ran out of the brown cardboard. The corrugated paper was a lucky find. I was looking for inspiration for a cardboard substitute (regular cardboard was too thick to use when folded for an LTC) when I stumbled on a pack of this corrugated paper that was on clearance. Love it when things work out for the best.

In other news, I turned 25 today. There will be a few more spoilers in the next week or so. :)

S is for Swan

Here's my submission for the S round of the Alphabet LTC swap. S is for Swan! This card is deceivingly simplistic (it's only made up of 3 stamps). It's harder than it seems to  line up everything just right, but I think it worked out very well for a first attempt and I'm quite happy with the results. :)

This is a totally random note... but Versafine ink pads are just lovely to work with. Where have these been all of my life? They give great detail, it's easy to clean off the stamp, and best of all, they're archival! I never thought I'd be raving over an oil-based ink. I'm using the Versafine small and I think before the end of the year I'll have a dozen of these in my possession.

R is for Rainbow Lorikeet

Another alphabet submission. R is for… Rainbow Lorikeet! Simple watercolor background with a feather stamp. I carved the feather way back when I first started Letterboxing. :)

I based the rest of the carve on a photo I took while I was visiting my parents in Kansas this summer (again at Tanganyika). The weather was stormy so my boyfriend and I were the only ones in the Lorikeet exhibit. While I was having a dance party with one bird, my boyfriend had 4 of them; one dancing, one checking out his hair for goodies, and two kickboxing. My boyfriend wanted assistance in removing his new-found friends, but I couldn't stop laughing. I had to cut the video I took down a lot due to bad camerawork. (I had several Lories on me as well)

Quick sketch for the Hometown Postcard swap. I lived in Wichita, KS for 23 1/2 years (now living in Florida) and Kansas is pretty well known for the Wizard of Oz. The carve didn't turn out as well as I'd hoped since it was done on Oz Kut. I was really getting frustrated with that material.

Merrie Melodies

Note: The top sketch was my original idea for this LTC, but it ended in tragedy when I messed up Pussyfoot's face. :( It was rather upsetting because the rest of the carve went so well.

This is the making of my “Favorite Childhood Cartoon Character” LTC set. Here we have some of my favorite oldies (1950s Chuck Jones), Marc Antony and Pussyfoot. This scene was from “Kiss Me Cat”. These two are so cute. He was teaching Pussyfoot about mouse hunting. The AQ# is on the inside of the card.

This LTC (number five, yay!) was a one-off I did after carving my boyfriend’s signature stamp. His nickname is Longshanks, so I felt a long-legged impala would suit him. This was extremely delicate work. I stamped on the three separate colored papers and cut out the super teeny tiny pieces. The worst parts were the antlers and face/ears. I kind of threw this card together on the spot. The brown oval and blue backing pieces aren't actually glued down. I haven’t finished this card because I’m not sure if I like the brown/blue combo.

P is for Porpoise and poor poetry!

This is the fourth set of LTCs, made for the third swap, an alphabet series. This round was “P is for…” and in my case, P is for Porpoise. Ideally I would've had a grey that was in between the dark paper porpoises and the lighter ones, because neither was quite right. I couldn't decide which ones to use, so I did a mix of darker and lighter ones. Some of them are in portrait and some are in landscape view. This just depended on what looked better. I also love variety in cards, so that was nice.

The background paper was made out of Crayola watercolors and watercolor paper. I cut out each porpoise by hand, and by accident, I figured out a neat method for the waves in front. Tear strips of paper, watercolor them, then pounce them in clear embossing ink/powder. (I used a matte embossing powder; Hampton Art clear) Heat emboss and glue down, then trim off the excess. I still felt that the card was missing something, and when I asked about it, FloridaFour suggested a beach ball. PERFECT! So… I set about fussycutting dozens and dozens and dozens of these papers and ball slices. Again, I do not have punches. A large circle punch would've save me so much trouble. After gluing each piece down, I embossed that as well to give it a little shine. It’s a really fun card and I enjoyed making a royal mess of it :) It was a labor of love for sure!

Here’s the little prose I put with the card’s clue to add more of the alphabet feel to it;

Do you know what I am? Here is a clue:

My body is smooth and shiny,
my tail a paddle and rather flat,
my home is large and briny,
and I am portly— not fat!

My snout is short but my smile is wide,
and if you could stand the cold,
you could swim by my side.

If you've not guessed by now, I am the Porpoise!

Don't worry, I'll stick to my day job.