Life Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness

On Monday there is the weekly challenge event at Speedy TV , if you enter and post your card you may even win a set of free stamps!! 

 Go here to check this out:  http://mfpspeedytv.ning.com/page/fostv-challenge

Today’s challenge theme is the 4^th of July.

 

 

My card is clean and simple in style and sentiment.  We are a military family, my husband Steve has put 24 years into the Air Force and is still in uniform, he has served all over the world.  My Oldest Son  Roy served 6 years as a Marine including a tour in Iraq.  My Daughter Lissa is working on enrolling as an Air Force Officer this summer.  Liberty is a very important issue to my family, the liberty of being a United States Citizen and even more so the Liberty of being a Christian.   President Lincoln was so right when he said all men were born equal, in the eyes of God this is so true, I am very thankful to live in a country where I can pursue, Life, Liberty and Happiness.  And more so that I can worship freely because in Worship I find an unchained life, true liberty and lifelong happiness.

I hope you all have a wonderful 4^th of july, that you get together with your families and friends, have great celebrations because this is a very worthy thing to celebrate!

Ginny M

 

 

 

Ginny M

Something you NEVER want to do

 I am blogging about this in the hope that It might cause one of my readers to pause  and not do what I did!
Here is a picture of my 2007 Saturn Ion2:

This is a nice car, I've enjoyed driving it for the last 6.5 years, low mileage and very smooth.  Best thing about it, It's paid for! 

 

This is a picture of the engine.  Very exciting isn't it?

Well after driving about 55 miles on Weds.  I noticed there was a burning odor coming from the engine.  I checked the radiator and thought wow, bone dry, I better add some water and get to a gas station and put in  coolant and more water.  Do you see the radiator??

so I get to the gas station and put in 4 GALLONS of combined fluids.

I started the car up and it sounded really bad (  it sounded fine when I got there).  I turned if off and waited a few seconds and started it up again.  This time it sounded REALLY, REALLY bad and was billowing out smoke so bad I couldn't see the gas pump 5 feet away.  I turned off the car and then it hit me , what the problem was. I wanted to cry.  I called my Dear Husband, not good timing for him for me to have a crisis.  I hung up knowing my Husband was occupied with a military thing and I needed to figure this one out.  And I did. 

Here is a picture of the problem:

I poured 4+ gallons of fluid into the oil tank / engine.  I guess the little oil can picture and the thing that say 5x/30 (that is the type of oil you put in  the car)  Should have prevented me from drowning my PAID for car?   The moment of panic passed when I remember my friend Gus telling me 25 years ago about having to put water into his engine to get home, and that the car was flushed and it was fine.  I also thought in the Scheme of life blowing a motor isn't a really big deal.  Well I might have been without a car for a while, but I wasn't going to have a breakdown over it!

I called a tow truck, they came in ten minutes, They flushed the card ( and were astounded by how much fluid I had put into it!!) Changed the oil and 4 hours later I was driving home. Next day I went back and they flushed the car twice  and changed the oil again and told me the car should be fine. 

 

 and there it  is sitting back home and not blowing enough smoke to hide a warehouse!

I have no Idea why I did this, I'm pretty good with my car and have even done a few small repairs in my life, I understand you do not put anything other than oil into the oil tank!!

I'm sharing this in hopes I might prevent someone else from doing this!  Who know there may have been an accident that I missed because I was detained drowning my engine?  One never knows!

Have a great rest of your weekend and thanks for stopping by!

Ginny M

Happy Saturday!! Happy Birthday!!

Happy Saturday!!  It’s my Birthday!  I love my birthday!!  Not JUST because of presents and fanfare, but it means I have yet to completely fulfill the purpose of my life!  There is still work for me to do, Love to give and Love to  receive.  My Birthday is a giant "Go"  card that says Happy New Year to you and the Best is yet to come!!  And of course presents are great!! 

 

One of the greatest Gifts I have been given is living in a land of liberty.  None of us has any choice about the  geography we are born into, and geography has an enormous influence in the quality of our lives.  It is a gift given to me by People who choose to move here from their homelands several generations ago,  People  who are nameless to me even though I carry their DNA and have passed it on to my offspring.  People that I had never known, with great courage took up arms and prevented this country from being consumed by other countries who did and do not believe in Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.  By People that endured persecution, rode long miles on horse back , built churches in the freezing New England and Baking Arizona.  And by People that worked and worked and worked to make their dreams come true, and provide for the possibility of their children’s dreams to come true.   It took a lot of people and a lot of work for this country to come to be and to stay the land of the free and the home of the brave.  But to  all those things, there is  a foundation:  it took the Love of God.  His Love for us.  And Because we Loved Him in return as a nation, He blessed us . 

I have lived my adult life knowing this:, In all things The lord goes before me, he makes every good thing possible and showers me with His Love, every day of my life.  So to celebrate my Birthday and the Nations' I have made several cards, This one is for a blog challenge at Our Daily Bread Designs!  I love the quality of these stamps, but more than anything they help my spread the wonderful love of God and His great Kindness to us.

 

The challenge is here http://ourdailybreaddesignsblog.blogspot.com/ enter and you may win a stamp! The Rubber Stamp Scripture is from ODB's scripture collection #11. This special card will be in the mail to someone very special to me.  Make your card, post it,  let someone how much you love them and appreciate them, especially if they are a Vet!!

Have a wonderful weekend, Stay safe!

Ginny M

Tutorial Time and Faux Tiles

It is tutorial Friday time at SpeedyTV     Go here for this weeks tutorial and samples: http://mfpspeedytv.ning.com/page/tutorial-time-on-speedytv

The week I tried something new again; Faux tiles!  I liked this technique quite a bit and can see where I will be able to use it in the future.  I made my Faux tiles .5 inch squares.  You will need tools you most likely already have for this simple technique. Stamps, inks, a scoring tool and score board

Select your stamps and papers.  I used Marks’ Finest Paper and Stamps Asian Delight set.

I thought I would like to do this in muted greens, grays and black,

I stamped on white  80lb paper and found this worked well in making the faux tiles.

I love layers, especially thin ones, like fine art, layers gives rubberstamping art a defined and finished look.  I am using a Genesis trimmer that I purchased a year ago on ebay for 30.00.  Some of you may know what a score that is.  This is a wonderful tool!

One really nice thing about clear stamps is the ability to make wonderful masks and place your stamped image exactly where you want it!!  I am fairly new to this clear world and I am really enjoying it.  Marks’ Stamps hold the ink very well an make very good images with little effort.   I have a few other clears and they don’t work so well which is why until Marks’ I’ve stayed away from them.

Using the mask, I have scored around where my stamped  Geisha’s are going.  My tiles are scored on the 05 line, turned and rescored making a square tile.

I lightly stamped the cherry blossom over the faux tiles and then stamped the Geisha’s.  I’m using memento inks.

Next, embellishment, coloring and Stickles for the finished card.

This card is an A6 size and the base is a 100lb black from my stash.

I hope you give this technique a try, it is simple, fast and EASY!!

Thanks for stopping by and Have a great day!

Ginny M

Workmanship

Over at Word Art Wednesday the Verse for the day is :    "For we are His workmanship".  What a wonderful bit of knowledge into the World of the Eternal.  Whether or not you believe in there being a Mighty God/ Creator/ Redeemer, you can not deny the beauty of the Creation,  I can not fathom how anyone can be convinced that this all happened because of a chemical serendipity.  I gave my life to the Lord a long time ago and have never regretted one second of walking in the beauty of His ways.  There have been some very hard solitary times in my life, we all have them, but they did not last and I was never truly alone.  Hope never deserted me because I knew I was loved by my Creator.

 

My Card for the  Word Art Challenge #86 http://wordartwednesday.blogspot.com/

is fairly simple.  Actually I make most of my cards simple.  They all have to fit in an envelope and be mail-able.  I make cards to bring a smile or word of encouragement ( don't we all need those?).  I don't go crazy with elements and layers actually I am normally trying to tone things down.  My favorite card maker  Sandra G. who is is a member of OSA makes simply the most beautiful and elegant cards I have ever seen.  They are perfection of composition, image and beautiful papers.  I work at simplifying and creating elegance.  But the funny thing is, it just comes out the way it does.  That actually makes me happy as I enjoy striving for improvement! We are all adding daily tour perfection!

 

First the Word copied into word, what a wonderful gift, scripture stamps in rubber are expensive!

 

 

I make a base, pull out a butterfly that I made yesterday

 

 

 

The lighting in my photos is a little off, I haven't turned my lights on in my stamp room, it is already 80+ and it is only 7:30 am! I took these on my cutter next to the window and the fan.

 

If you don't own a pair of Teflon coated scissors, you really need too!  They are a wonderful tool and you will save a lot of time and some money by not using GooGone to remove Adhesives from your good scissors.  These are made by Paper Studio and I love them, non stick and super sharp!

 

And now the finished card:

 

Knowing who you are is a wonderful Gift the Lord has for all of us, a plan and a purpose in life and the Ability to pursue it are all part of walking with God!  I encourage you to Ask God who he is and What He is all about!

Thanks for stopping by!

Have a wonderful day!

Ginny M

WOYWW #212 Work Desk Busy

It is once again WOYWW #212, time for a world wide Blog hop of creative work desks!  You can go here To Julia's lovely Blog to pick up the hop: http://stamping-ground.blogspot.com/, Grab a cuppa  and enjoy!!
I've been very busy with life the last two weeks and it being in the 90's  so for the last two days I've taken a little break from card making.  Sometimes pulling away form a task can help you reenergize and regroup.
 I have a friend that produces Stunning cards, time after time and she has decided to sell all her supplies.  Why, because it is time for her to move on in her life, and where she is moving to there is no time and no space for this craft.  It is a firm decision in her creative life to close one door and open another and I applaud her. Some people becomes slaves to their craft, it owns then in the way of time and money,  physical space and emotional real estate.  I can't stress enough the importance of finding balance in every area, especially for women who have so  many demands in their  every day.

The first Place I find my balance in the short term and the long term is the Word Of God , or in non church talk - The bible.  It's words are life and light and I need it every day.  In these uncertain times, it is certain.  If you don't read it and are interested, start with the book of John in the Gospels, it will answer so many questions you may have and bring you hope and peace.

                               On my work desk ( my computer work desk)  I found some wonderful new fonts at the site DaFont.com.  These are in the calligraphy section and are free, there are many, many to choose from.  I have been using this site since the 1990's and have never had a problem.  I use these beautiful fonts in my card making and calligraphy art work.

On My regular work desk, just a small task.  Getting ready to color a few swallow tails for upcoming cards!

Tonight I will be going out with three wonderful women whom I have been friends with for 30+ years!  That is a long time, a lot of life, a lot of good, bad and ugly. We all love the Lord and His word as well as each other.  Friendships; one of the great treasures of life!
Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the rest of the hop!
Ginny M                       

Adding a little sparkle to your Monday!!

Monday at  Friends of Speedy TV is all about adding Sparkle!!  Go here to check out the challenge:     http://mfpspeedytv.ning.com/page/challenges            If you enter you may even win a free stamp!!

I used the  Daffodil greetings set to make this card.  This flower patch was made with several stamped images and fussy cut and colored, the grass was also added from the original and turned upside down, adding more fronds to the daffodils

Designer paper and 110lb deckle edge paper for the base. Alcohol markers for the coloring.

I know I am always saying this but use the best paper you can, it really makes a difference in the beauty of your card, similar to using the best ingredients in your recipe, the end result always tells!

 

I made the butterflys demensional by stamping two images for one butterfly.  The Daffodils are several stamped images fussy cut and arranged.  Coloring with Spectrum  Noir pens, glittered with stickels and layered with DCWV paper.   

Thanks for stopping by and I hope a little glitter enters into your day!!!

Have a great day,

Ginny M

New to me Technique

Spirelli is a technique that involves wrapping fibers around paper to create either a lace or pattern look.  Go Here for a great tutorial: http://mfpspeedytv.ning.com/page/spirelli-accents and here for the DT at Mark's Finest Paper and Stamps examples:   http://mfpspeedytv.ning.com/page/tutorial-time-challenge-54-6-21-13.  If you decide ant try this and enter a picture of your card you may win a free stamp set!

 

here is my card:

 

I kept the Spirelli fairly simple the the rest of the card was busy.  The stamps are from Marks' also, they are clear and  stamp up beautifully.   

 

 

I hope you all are having a great weekend and find some creative time! Thanks for stopping by!

Ginny M

The Singleness of Differences

In our world today we hear so much about diversity and gender or lack of or the importance of or the unimportance, the point of, the ministry of and on it goes.  It has been my experience that in reality we are more the same then we are different.  We all need food, shelter and clothing, we all need love, we all need purpose and no matter who or what you are we all need hope.  I have two friends, that are going through very different crises at the moment.  They boil down to the same need.  The need to have hope and to know that things will change and hopefully get better. I made these two cards for a bit of encouragement in the mail.

 

 

 

 

While this is not a bible scripture it is a sure word of encouragement.  I love this stamp, it is one of my favorites, I love to just  sit and play and make cards.  The sentiment is arresting in it's point and the art is pure beauty.  Combine this stamp, a little bit of paper, a little love and prayer and you create a treasure for someone and bless yourself in the making!

The stamp is a "Our Daily Bread Designs Stamp"

you can check their blog here for tons of inspiration:

http://ourdailybreaddesignsblog.blogspot.com/

 

Do you have a favorite stamp that you use over and over again?

 

Thanks for stopping by!

Ginny M

 

Word Art Wednsday Challange

There is a great Blog called Word Art Wedensday, it is here: http://wordartwednesday.blogspot.com/.
This Blog is all about it's title, getting the Word of God out through Art , But not only does it do that, it helps people to do it!  Every week there is a new scripture  verse posted on Weds.  Their design team has a bunch of beautiful samples displaying the verse and they allow you to take the verse at no cost and if that wasn't enough, use it and post a picture and you might win a prize of a lovely stamp or stampy type thing!  How great is that?  If that is Wonderful enough, they even allow you to use another uplifting "family friendly sentiment"!
This is my first card I am actually submitting, I've wanted to before but honestly I was shy.

This is the verse for this weds:

 

I thought I'd like to make this card in Subtle Greens, in an A7 size.  With this being a larger card and having a larger "face"  I wanted to make sure my colors worked, especially since I was submitting this in a challenge!

 

So after I put the facing on the card base, the card base is a 100lb  Strathmore textured with deckle edge paper, I pulled out my color wheel.

 

 

I stamped up a few butterfly's and put the colors together, using a tertiary group, green, red orange a touch of blue violet

 

 I had to pull out my Spectrum color chart, because this is why I have it, to help me work these awesome color pens to the fullest

 

 

aren't they pretty ?

 

here  is the final card

 

 

 

 

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have a great day!  and try to find the time to check out:

http://wordartwednesday.blogspot.com/

you will be blessed!

Ginny M

 

WOYWW#211 and Quickie Cards

Already Wednesday, where did the time go since #210?  It is now WOYWW#211 and if you aren't sure what this is all about  go here to Julia's blog as she leads the parade to the world wide desk hop!! http://stamping-ground.blogspot.com/

**From my little contest last week on WOYWW#210 **

I need snail mail addresses from :

 

Julia Dunnit

Shaz in Oz  (Got it)

Lisa Richard

and

Vickie -Okienurse (can't find yours)

My Prize winners !

Please email me at maxammadestudio@hotmail.com 

Thanks for playing!!

On My desk today are some quickie cards!!  I made these 5 cards in less than 15 minutes!  I made them to hold sample packets of specialty stamping paper I am sell on my supplies page.  Since this is a new item and lots of stampers have not tried this type of paper I though I'd offer a free sample!  I took the images I originally stamped for the "ad" and made them into cards:

                                      coloring done with Tinting in mind, alcohol markers:

 I just grabbed bases from the new papers and then worked the layers from this basket:

my grab and glue method, it is fast and fun.

 

 

Luke wanted to say Hi!  But he also wanted to eat Tink so this picture is a little blurry!

 

                              Tink was not impressed and thinks he takes a better photo!

 

 

 

I hope you enjoy your hop, I am hope to be able to take the tour this morning myself!

Thanks for stopping here and have a great day!

Ginny M

A great little "save" trick!

For what ever reason it would seem I cannot keep ink off my fingers when I am stamping.  As careful as I can be, I still end up with smudges on my papers, some times it is just a fleck, some times a finger print.  If I am selling a card, I don't want to sell my fingerprints with it, whether it is going to one of my stores or my blog shop, the cards have to be pristine and without things like flecks, fingerprints, halos and embossing splatter.  My solution to all of those problems is this 1.99 sand paper block that I buy from Home Depot:

I have two here and they are  about 3x5' and the grit is extra fine.  they are really just little foam blocks coated in a extra fine sandpaper.  

here is a card that I smudged just for this post to show you what I normally do without trying:

I had to darken this to make the print visible, in real life it is very visible!!
To remove the print I just simply lightly sanded the area of the print, I sanded of the ink leaving the paper unmarred.

you can see there is no more finger print!  I accidentally hit to much of the layer paper and then tried to fix that (black smudge) Well I sanded that and then added a layer of ochre colored pencil and you can' t see that error now.  This also works on stamp "halo's"!!)

I also use these sand blocks to give my new stamps a quick rub to take of the silicone coating from the factory.  That is why new stamps often don't stamp well.  The blocks are also great for distressing!

I hope you find this trick helpful, it has been a huge time saver for me!

Have a great day!

Ginny M

A New Page

Over the last couple of weeks I joined a Rubber Stamp Design Team.  The Name of the Company is Marks Finest Papers and Stamps, a Heinrich Company. Here is a link to the store in case you haven't heard of them: http://www.marksfinestpapers.com/servlet/StoreFront  .  I am on two of there design teams, one for teaching and one for challenges they are here: http://mfpspeedytv.ning.com/ .  I have found the company staff to be very nice and very helpful, a couple of phone calls, a bunch of emails, yahoo groups and I'm up and running.  My official start date is 7/1 but since Marks so graciously sent me stacks of stamp sets I a decide to get going right away.  Good thing too, ever start something and think you know exactly what you are doing only to discover you really don't have a clue??  I'm waving here as I type because that was me!!  I think I have it under control now, my problem was not realizing the communication I was getting was for all 7 design teams, I didn't realize I just needed to pay attention to the teams I am on.  On Tuesday I was thinking, What did I get my self into! Like I said, I've got it straightened out in my mind how things work and now that I am done with the organization work of the web stuff I am very happy to be MAKING the samples!  There were a few computer things I had to learn quickly, but before I could do that I had to learn that I didn't  know these things and I needed to! That will make sense to some people reading this, if you don't understand what I'm saying you are probably under 40 and don't even know what DOS is. Anyway, the work of the Design team is to basically make samples that show off the beauty of the stamps.  Sounds simple and it is, unless you have to make a stunning sample with images that you wouldn't normally pick out.  This then becomes the real challenge for the designer.  This would be true for any designer, there will always be images that aren't in you normal margin of appeal.  I am not a "cute" stamper, while I like other peoples cute cards, it is just nothing I gravitate towards.  So when I make cute cards for Mark's, this will be a challenge for me, and I am happy about that because I don't want to get stale and totally predictable! 

 

 



Marks also has a great educational system, Speedy TV, Weekly challenges and tutorials.  Offering a real opportunity for paper artists to grow.  That is one of the reason's I joined, card making and it's out reach has been a huge blessing in my life and I am eager to pass what I know on in a positive and thrifty way!

 

Here is my first Card for Marks, it is for today's Birthday Challenge  you can go here to check out more entries: http://mfpspeedytv.ning.com/page/fostv-challenge.

Enter the challenge yourself and you may win a free stamp set!!
 

 

 

I used the pussy willow set to make the chickadee and Asian delights for the cherry blossom, the sentiment is on Daffodil greeting set.

 

I hope you all had a great weekend and this week brings good things!

Ginny M

A wonderful discovery

Steve and I went paper shopping today, Trying to find terrific items for our little blog store and pass them on at great prices.  I think we all like to spend less while crafting and with out sacrificing quality.
I'm a big paper nut. I love beautiful paper.  I think if you are card making and use lesser quality papers, you are shooting yourself in the foot.  Better quality papers equals better quality cards.  I have seen beautiful stamps on poor papers and it is such a disappointment.  Unfortunately quality can be expensive.  To my thinking, the final product is worth that cost.  Why spend an hour to make a beautiful card if it comes out looking like a first grade art project?  We want beauty and we want people to feel the love when they receive one of our cards. If you look at cards on the web you can tell the difference immediately when quality products are  used.

I've been a long time fan of the Magenta company Rubber Stamps and recently of LeBlanche Silicone stamps.  Both of these companies make truly elegant stamps that become elegant art.  I am not a fan however, especially of Magenta's difficulty of use!!  Anyone out there that is a Magenta fan knows just what I am talking about!

I have noticed out on the retail paper market some paper  called "specialty stamping paper" Leblanche markets it and Rangeer under the Inkessentials label, they are both great stamping papers for all kinds of stamps.  But they are expensive! 

So I have come up with an alternative to theses brand name papers, my own brand name 'Specialty Stamping Paper'.  It is a product made by Sappi and you can find technical info here: http://www.na.sappi.com/products/loe  This is a wonderful warm white paper made for inks of all types, it grabs it off the stamp and hold it on with a perfect clarity!

This image is the first try with a Leblanche  Silicon stamp and Memento ink: Perfect!! 

 

This is a Magenta stamp with Stampin' up ink!  This was the first try, and I did not have to use my car tire  to acquire enough pressure to make this stamp work! it came out clear and crisp on the first try!!

Having used magenta stamps since Magenta started making them, I was amazed!

 

The paper itself has a coating on it and it is labeled as "dull" it is ultra, Ultra smooth and I have it in 80lb cover stock so it is lovely and heavy and suitable for card bases as well as stamping!

 

I am selling this wonderful paper at 25 8.5x11 inch sheets for 6.00 and that includes shipping!!
you can't get a better deal than that!!  I would be happy to mail a sample to you if you would like to try it before you buy it, just send me an email at maxammadestudio@hotmail.com and I would be happy to send you a sample!

I hope you are all having a great weekend, tomorrow is a special day in our house and I look forward to saying thanks to Steve for being the most wonderful father on the planet!

Ginny M

Ping Prizes!

 

Ping was a little duck that easily became distracted by the world around him and as a result he was often late getting back in the family's boat.  The last duck on board got a spanking.  Ping was so afraid to get spanked that one day he just hid. Ping realized the love of his family and the safety of his little world was more important than doing things he shouldn't, He was never late or absent again!

 

And that is the Story of Ping the duck that I remember from when I was about 7.  Made a big impression, However I am still frequently late getting places, not deadlines, just places!!

 

My Prize winners are

Julia Dunnit

Shaz in Oz

Lisa Richard

and

Vickie Okienurse!

 

Thanks for remembering and Stopping by, I will be getting in contact with the winners for your information!

Ginny M

 

 

WOYWW#210

I actually posted this a day early, talk about losing it, so I deleted it and am starting over!  Same stuff on my desk though, a busy day running around for me!!   It is really What is On Your Workdesk Wednesday Blog hop time #210!!   Start here At our friend Julia's blog : http://stamping-ground.blogspot.com/

 

I have just joined Marks Finest Papers and Stamps design team and that is what is on my desk!!

Admin work for me before stamping.  When it come to deadlines I never want to be Ping the Duck.  Do any of you remember that story?

 

 

Some of the stamps to play with, and this was about 1/4 of what came in the mail - the other are Top Secret until the July and August releases!  Fun Fun!!

 

And lastly on my stand up desk:

I'm packaging some wonderful 100# and 80# Strathmore card stocks that will go up  in my shop in the card making and supplies page!  You won't believe the pricing!!  That will be Thursday!

Thanks for stopping by, and enjoy your round the world hop!!

Ginny M