Sunday, January 9, 2011

Embellishments, Cameras, and Books!

To explain the following card, DH gave me the fabulous Scrapbook Embellishment Handbook for Christmas.  It has so many creative ideas (puff paint in buttonholes instead of threading = genius!) that it made me want to break out all of my embellishments at once.  Especially stickers, since Echo Park has made me like them again.  And I could. not. stop. using. stickers.

I was inspired by this card by Linda of Catered Crop (also a fellow ECG DT member).  I started with the simple idea of CASEing her card...did a little coloring and cutting of the Eat Cake Graphic image, then picked out some fun papers.  Then I saw the tree sticker.  And the flower stickers.  Hm....the top right seemed a little bare.  So I added the "true friends" sticker (I think from a K&Co sticker sheet).  Well, that seemed sad by itself, so I kept adding more.  Too much more?  Never!

In order to balance out this moreness, I made a CAS thank you card-my friend wanted a couple for her husband to use to thank some close friends after the passing of his father.

I versamarked the flowers from Wplus9's Woodgrain Silhouettes onto PTI's Ocean Tides and clear embossed them.  Then I tried out my distressing inks some more--this time using Vintage Photo.  I also stamped the sentiment (from SU's Upsy Daisy) using Vintage Photo.

As promised last week, I have some photos taken with our new camera (Panasonic G1) to share.  I am in love with this camera.  It is so easy to use, takes fabulous photos in any lighting (the thank you card above was taken at night in my kitchen, which has both fluorescent and incandescent bulbs--but look at that gorgeous color!), and has some sort of awesome rubbery finish that I could pet all day.

Here are some photos I took at Denver's botanical gardens:


Same photo, cross-processed in Picnik:
and one of the corgi on Christmas night:
Tee-hee, I love the school photo/Olan Mills pose she has going on.  "And tilt your head just a little...and look over here...now back this way...and smile....{click}..perfect!"

Finally!, this year I'm going to try recording my book reading on here, just so I can remember what books I've read and also let you know of any must-reads. 
Book #0: A Dog's Purpose by W. Bruce Cameron  Technically I finished this book on December 29th, but it's so good I had to mention it.  There are PIPs (pets-in-peril) and you will need your hankies, but, oh, the warm furries!
Book #1: The Spellmans Strike Again by Lisa Lutz  I have devoured all four books of the Spellman series all in the past two months.  They're a great vacation read, kind of like Veronica Mars ten years after graduation.

9 comments:

Linda McClain said...

Oh darlin'. I like your card so much better than mine. :) It's so cheerful, and that tree is perfect. That's a smart idea for the books you've read. You might look into Amazon Widgets - it's a fun way to display what you're reading in your side bar. I did it for a while, but I thought my sidebar was getting too crowded so I quit. Anyway - thanks for the shoutout and very sweet compliments.

Maria@Crafty Cre8tions said...

Wow Meg - the first card is awesome! I love that it's using a lot of stickers!!! I HAVE to get some EKG stamps soon! You make me drool!!

I LOVE the second card!! WOW!!! It is stunning!! I think balancing busy cards with CAS cards are always necessary! At least for me!

The pics are beautiful. I wish I had a better handle on my Olympus camera.

Can't wait to hear your review of Merle's Door. You'll need a hanky for it too!!!

Maria :)

Sue from Oregon said...

When I first started making cards...it was all about stickers. I think I will go dig mine out and see what I have...thanks for the inspiration!

Karen H. said...

Wait wait wait - I just moved to Colorado (I'm staying in Golden for a few more weeks). Are you in CO?? How did I not know this? You've *got* to email me!

Angela said...

Aw, I love stickers! Your card uses them so well, too.
Sheesh, clear-embossing looks awesome on Ocean Tides!
I think I have a crush on your camera. I'm starting to get annoyed by how slow and simple my old elph is...and those photos are all just gorgeous.

Lynne in NI said...

ohhh your sticker card is fabulous .... I hope the recipient frames it!
And your CAS card is beautiful - love the colours you chose.
Fab photos too!

Lindsey said...

Both these cards are awesome! The first one is just so much fun, and the second one is CAS class.
LOVE the Spellman books!!!

Emily Keaton said...

Terrific cards, Meg. Both are outstanding. I can understand the one sticker {or in my case, embellishment of any kind} leads to another thing!! Awesome photos--these are all fantastic. Love that cute one of Addison. Yup, all the makings of a school photo. :)

Emily Leiphart said...

Your ECG card is packed with cuteness! I love all the pastelly goodness. WOW, you do amazing things with Woodgrain Silhouettes!! I especially love the vintage embossing. I'm also loving your camera! Addison must love it, too. ;)