Finally! A New Post! lol! :)

Hi out there! This is just a short Post to get the rust out of my limbs, to say! lol! I'm so far behind, I don't know that I'll ever catch up! But here's an attempt at a start to that. A lot of you may already know this, but throughout last year I've had one serious medical issue after another. All while I'm still here helping my Mom! Who also had a visit to the hospital herself last year.
But it's now 2016, and We're looking forward to good things in the New Year!
So, since it hasn't been long since Christmas, I think I'm just going to show some Christmas Cards & some altered Battery Operated Candles that I also made from LAST year (2014)! As per norm, the cards contain mostly Anna Griffin product! My mentor! Sigh..

Celebrate the Everyday!

 I know it's been several months since I've posted anything on this blog. There are various reasons for my absence, the main centering around the health of my dad. Not long after his 91st birthday (see card from previous post), he began falling more around the house, until the 25th of November when he was taken to the ER. That would end up being the last day he would spend at home. From that day until the 21st of January dad was either in one of two hospitals, or The Laurels, a Care Facility where he was strengthening his legs so he could come back home. I was with dad every day at these facilities, except for 2 days when I had a cold. Many nights were spent "sleeping" in hospital and facility chairs. I did not have the time or opportunity to create Cards this past Christmas. For those of you who usually receive a card from me, I apologize for that, but circumstances were totally out of my control.

Christmas was a great day, spent with the whole family, in a special room at the Laurels. Dad had a real nice day that day, surrounded by his entire family, minus my brother who lives in Maryland with his wife. But my brother was there via the telephone for part of our visit! Santa was very good to one and all, but time spent with dad was the best present I received that day. Unfortunately this would unknowingly be the last Christmas spent with dad. On the early morning of January 21, 2013, my dad passed away. It was very unexpected, as he had been improving for some time. In fact, the day before, my mom & I had spent the day and evening with dad, watching football on the TV, playing several games of cards, and just spending some quality time with him. We didn't leave until he was getting sleepy, and was ready for bed at about 10 pm. I took mom home, and it was the next morning at 5:31 am when I received an urgent call from dad's nurse directing us to immediately go to the ER as dad had collapsed was receiving CPR, and was in an ambulance on the way to the hospital. Unfortunately dad never woke up.

So then there was the planning of the funeral and all that goes with having a death in the family. That next week seemed like the longest week of my life, and yet at the same time it seemed to go by very quickly. My brother and sister-in-law drove in from Maryland, so mom had all her children around her for that week. And ever since then I've been with mom every day, and time has passed surprisingly fast this past Winter/early Spring. Needless to say, I have been in a creative funk until very recently, when I finally felt my crafty mojo returning!

And this is the first project I have created since last Fall. It is a card I will be giving to an acquaintance as a thank-you. On the inside it is stamped with "Celebrate the Everyday". I also entered it into the weekly contest at CropChocolate.com. Details of that are listed below.

Crop Chocolate Challenge #59 - A Little Bit of Everything!

From DeeDee and Corrie:
Today's challenge is a "Little bit of everything" mix! Make sure your project includes buttons, ribbon and an image! Your image can be stamped, fussy cut or die cut. No specific theme or colors :)Products used: Bo Bunny Double Dot CS, Bo Bunny Gabrielle PP, & Chipboard; TH Distress Ink Gathered Twigs, TH Alcohol Ink Espresso; EP CS; MME Velvet Ribbon All from CropChocolate. Also: Anna Griffin Vellum Title, MS Punch, and from my stash-pearls, & button.

So thanks for stopping by and checking out the new post. Hopefully things have calmed down enough and I will be back here posting on a more regular basis!

Stay safe & be happy & healthy :)
-Char♥

Dad's 91st Birthday!

My dad turned 91 today, October 22nd!  What a milestone to reach.  So, to help celebrate his day, I created this Birthday card for him.  On the inside of the card, there is a funny little quote "It's Important to Have Twinkle in your Wrinkle"!

On the front of the card, the quote reads "Nothing is so strong as Gentleness, Nothing so gentle as real strength".  I entered this card in Crop Chocolate's weekly challenge. This week's Challenge,  Challenge#36 "Neutrals & Brights", was to use one neutral color (black, white, kraft, etc.) in combination with three bright colors. Products Used: Crop Chocolate- Authentique Essentials Patterned Paper, Kraft CS, BG Opaline Pearls, MME Bohemia Transparency, MME Bohemia "Gentleness" Quote. Non-CC- Tissue Tape by Tim Holtz, Stamp by Anna Griffin, Ink by Memento, MME Blue Chipboard "Star".

Back in The Saddle, Again!

So, time flies when you're having fun, or something like that!  It has been just about 3 months to the day since my last post.  During this time, I have had several items occur which has put me in a creative funk.  The major event was a total knee replacement surgery which I had done on my left knee.  The surgery took place on July 30th.  I was in the hospital for several days, before being transferred to a rehabilitation care facility.  There I stayed for 2 weeks while learning how to walk again with my new implant. It just happened to coinside with most of the Summer Olympics in London, England, and I watched several hours of coverage that I normally would have missed. I also discovered some new events like Trampoline and men's & women's water polo! Pretty exciting stuff!  Unfortunately on the morning of my surgery, I had to put my only cat Ziggy to sleep.  We had recently discovered cancer throughout her poor little body, and it was the only thing I could humanely do for her. In hindsight, I realized that little trauma kind of kept my mind from stewing on the surgery which I was about to have that same morning...

After my release from the rehabilitation care facility, I finally made it back home to my parent's house.  And began the journey of learning to manuever around the house and the outside world with the use of a cane. I am not so much using the cane anymore, so progress has been made in that area.

Then, around the third week of September, I flew out to Denver, CO for a visit with some good friends whom I haven't seen in quite a long time in Fort Collins, CO. My good friend David flew me out for about a 10 day visit. What can I say? I'm one lucky girl. I really enjoyed myself, and it made me realize just how much I miss living out there. In fact the picture below is of a card which I made for my friend David.

So, now I am trying to get back into the groove here in Ohio, and finding it harder than I would have thought.  But appointments need to be made, commitments met, etc. I guess I just find myself daydreaming of the mountains and the western life which I miss so much, that it makes it hard to be very productive. The card which I made (above) reflects some of that beautiful country out there. I used foil gilding to reflect the beautiful, golden Aspen trees which were in peak color in the mountains, along with the various colors of the willow, mountain maple and other low-lying shrubbery that reflected more of a reddish color. The stylized maple leaf die cut in the center of the card represents the foliage in the lower elevations which had not turned into its fall colors yet. And at the very bottom right of the card, in black print are the words "thank you". 

Well, that was a very quick and brief overview of why I have been absent for the last three months. I will try to push myself and make a better attempt to post things more frequently now that I am back home!

CC Challenge #20: Print it Up! With StampersBest Stamps

For the CropChoc. #20 Challenge, the rules were to: Create a project using black or dark background with 3 different patterns & a ribbon.  I also added a StampersBest Stamp to this challenge.

My parent's 50th Anniversary was July 4th!  WOW! I cannot believe it has been that long already! To help them celebrate, I made this card for them.

The picture on the front is of them cutting their wedding cake!  (Colors appear lighter in the photo than they are IRL!)  Products Used: BG Little Black Dress for all the plain and patterned papers, BG Cardstock "frame", the word "Bliss" from HC. Non CC: Flower from Webster's, Ribbon from Anna Griffin, Nestabilities Die.

This is the front view of the card:

And this is a view of the inside of the card:

On the inside I used two separate stamps. The first one, the quote, is called "Love Bench Sentiment" Rubber Stamp, and can be found on StampersBest.com!  The second stamp is an Anna Griffin stamp that wishes a Happy Anniversary!

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you enjoyed your visit!

Blog Hop Winner

I came SO close to meeting my goal of 50 followers-only 1 short! Anybody out there who would like to be #50?  (There may even be a prize for the help of reaching my goal!)

Anyway, the randomly chosen WINNER of the (below) pictured blog candy is: Comment #5 "Jenny". Please PM me with your real name and address so I can get your package in the mail :)

 Congratulations, Jenny! And a big THANKS to everyone who stopped by and left a comment on my Alcohol Ink Candle Project. I also thank everyone who signed up as new followers, and thanks to those who were already followers! The Hop was a big success :)

Blog Hop "For Those Who are Left Behind"

Welcome to this Blog Hop! The deadline for the Blog Hop will be 9am MST Thursday July 5th. So, you have until then to visit as many of the blogs as you can.

The title of this Hop, "For Those Who are Left Behind", was decided on by a group of gals over at CropChocolate.com, a wonderful.online scrapbook store. Crop Chocolate, is having an onsite crop retreat called "The Spring Thing" in the State of Utah. However, I was unable to attend this year, and so while the lucky ones are in Utah, some of us who couldn't make it decided to have a Blog Hop so that we could get our "scrappy on" also.

Each stop along this blog hop will have a  "Challenge" posted. The challenges are created by the blog's author, and you need to follow each blogger's instructions to qualify for some goodies being given away by CropChocolate.com. In addition, some of the Bloggers will be giving out "Blog Candy" on their Site. Just be sure to follow their individual instructions in order to qualify yourself for winning! Here is a list of the participating blogs. Visit them in order, or randomly as you find the time!

clayton528 – http://www.upinthenightwithkat.blogspot.com
Scrappy Canuck – http://scrappycanuck.wordpress.com/
Karey2005 – http://www.karey2005.blogspot.com/
by belle - http://stuffbybelle.blogspot.com
bethd488 - http://engineeringmemories.blogspot.com
scrapaddict-laura - http://scrapaddict4life.blogspot.com/
mom2tayandbay – www.talesoftayandbay.blogspot.com
raebae – http://kitchentablescrapper.blogspot.com/
NinaN - http://ninastimeout.blogspot.ca/
Christina - www.thriftysisters-chris.blogspot.com
Haf2scrap – (guest of centralnyscrapper) http://centralnyscrapper.blogspot.com/
**YOU ARE HERE!->  NanCDru – Char - http://craftychicchar.blogspot.com/2012/06/for-those-who-are-left-behind-blog-hop.html
I am giving away a very nice package for you stampers out there! And all I ask you to do is to become a follower of my blog (unless you already are), and to leave a comment at the end of this Post. I will determine who all followed those requirements, and then will randomly draw a winner from that group! I'm really hoping I can increase the number of followers I currently have, 33, to 50! So, good luck to all, and now on to my Challenge:

For my Challenge, I'm asking people to use their Alcohol Inks on a project of their choice. Use one or two colors, or as many as you like. You can use the inks on a card, a layout, a home decor item, or whatever your imagination comes up with! In order to give some inspiration, I am Posting a Tutorial I made using Alcohol Inks and a Candle!

Alcohol Inked Candle Project

1.      Supplies needed:

Tim Holtz Adirondack Alcohol Inks of your color choice (by Ranger)

-White or Neutral color Pillar Candle(s)

-Disposable Gloves

-Masking Tape

-Non-Stick Protective Craft Mat (15”x18” Inkssentials by Ranger)

-Old Newspapers  

-Waxed Paper OR Palette Paper

-Paper Plate

-Cotton Balls or something similar (I used the cotton from a prescription bottle!)

-Mini Mister filled with Ranger Blending Solution (OPTIONAL).

Cover work surface with a layer or two of Newspapers. Place “Protective Craft Mat” on top of Newspapers (if you do not have a Protective Craft Mat, just add another layer or two of Newspapers). Place a sheet or two of Palette Paper(PP) OR Waxed Paper(WP) on top of your Previous Layers. Cut the PP or WP so that it is long enough to “roll” your Pillar Candle back and forth on. Usually about 12” is a good length.

2..      Cut a small piece of masking tape and wrap it around the Candle wick. This will protect it from getting stains on the white wick of the candle, and also give you a “handle” to rotate your candle with.

             3.    Now put the Disposable Gloves on. 
             4.    Pick out the “lightest” color of your Alcohol Inks, or the color you want to serve as a “base    color” for your project.
             5.   Lightly squeeze a trail of this color onto the sheet of Waxed Paper.

Begin rolling your Pillar Candle back and forth through this color, until your Candle has a nice coating of this color on all sides. 

                    6.  Now Stand Candle upright on a clear spot of your Waxed Paper. Squirt a little of same color on the top of the Candle, and use the Cotton to spread and cover this area of the Candle so the entire Candle is now the same color
                    7.  Pick a different color and begin “dripping” from the top edge of candle, letting the Ink drip and pool and form its own patterns. Drip the Ink all around the candle from the top edge, and completing a “circle” back to the starting point. It is helpful to hold the wick while turning the candle, as you will not leave any fingerprints in the ink and you can see the coverage you are getting from your second ink color.

8.      Repeat with as few or many ink colors as you choose. This is where color patterns really begin to show themselves. Just remember to completely circle the Candle with your Ink as you are dripping it down. That way the Candle does not have any “empty” spots

                        9.   When you have finished with your Inks, place Candle onto a paper plate to dry.

Dry for about 24 hours If you want, embellish your candle with ribbon, charms, etc.. After 24 hours, all the alcohol has evaporated and you are free to burn and enjoy the Candle! Below are photos of the Candle, Embellished.

 

Notes: 

-Colors used on this project are: Sail Boat Blue; Wild Plum; Purple Twilight; Sunshine Yellow. For the base color on this project, I used the “Sail Boat Blue”. I did NOT use the Mini Mister for this candle.

-After you have made a Candle and are feeling comfortable with the process, try making a second candle. For this candle, you can turn it up a notch by using a “Mini Mister” filled with Alcohol Blending Solution, and spray the Solution on various parts of the Inked Candle. This will give you a look similar to the effect you get if you ever used salt on watercolor paints.  The Blending Solution will spread the color and somewhat “lift” some of the color if you have a spot that has too much color or is too dense.

-Below are pictures of a Candle made using “The Alcohol Blending Solution” Technique.

I hope you have enjoyed using your Alcohol Inks to make a unique and beautiful candle. Just remember, you decide when you are finished. If you are happy with how your candle looks after using two colors, then you are finished. If you want to add more colors, then do that. Just be careful and look all around the candle as you add each color. You do not want to add TOO much, or you may end up with a “muddy” look. Most importantly, Have FUN!!