More scarves

Here's the second entrelac scarf:


I test knit two patterns for a local knit designer. Here's "Seeded Stripes":


The second is "Reversibility":


Details on these are posted on Ravelry; my user name is Slipstitch.

Asian Inspired

Made for an office birthday, new Stampin' Up set:

Because I'm too lazy to photo and scan instead, the colors are wonky. Imagine this card with all the blues in the same color family. Here's the inside:

I've started adding an image or some other decorative element to the insides of cards. I like how it finishes them.

Entrelac Scarf

Inspired by Laurie Perry (Crazy Aunt Purl), I located an entrelac scarf pattern, bought some Noro Taiyo yarn, and went to work:



The Taiyo is a blend of cotton, wool, silk and nylon. It is listed as "dry clean only," but I blocked this lightly with a spray bottle.

It will probably be donated for a silent auction. I am strangely attracted to rainbow yarn, every since I saw my first skein of Red Heart "Mexicana." I'm not sure I'd ever wear this, but I love the way it looks. I made a second scarf in browns, olive, greys and pinks that is blocking now. That won't match any coat I have either. I guess I'm a process knitter!

Masked Tags

The Tuesday Tag challenge at Kard Krazy was to use a mask on the tag. Coincidentally, there was a series of Distress Ink tutorials at 2 Peas in a Bucket, including one using masks. I haven't found the Tim Holtz masks locally, but I did have some frisket film and a big shot. I figured that I could cut my own masks. Unfortunately, the "low tack" film was still too tacky for a manilla shipping tag, so I ended up die cutting my Sizzlet flourish on a yellow sticky:

I started with dtp'ing Worn Lipstick Distress Ink to the tag, then applied the mask. Because there is only a narrow area of sticky, it's hard to hold the mask down. I added another layer of ink, Fired Brick, so the masked area shows up pink-ish (in real life; this looks orange on the computer). I darkened the edges with Aged Mahogany, and also used it to stamp the flourish (Studio G Stamps. I dpt'ed another tag with Worn Lipstick for the frame and sentiment. The lady is from a panel of the four by Tin Can Mail; the sentiment is a Just Rite self-stamper. Punched flower with pearl brad.

I wanted to try again, and this time I hand cut some primitive hearts from my yellow sticky:

I added the flourishes again, cut the image from an repro post card and added the scalloped mat. Sentiment from Katie & Co. Stamps, a little bling, it's finished.

I did try some Peeled Paint and Broken China Distress inks on my third tag. The mask is hand cut leaves and stem:

Same flourish stamp. The waterlily and sentiment are Flourishes. I ran out of steam with this one, so ended up using the Copic Spica pens on the flower and the sentiment. They sparkle in real life, but not so much on the screen.

Flourishes 10-Minute Card

The Flourishes blog issued a challenge for a 10-minute card. Here's my offering, from the Iris/Mother's Day set:

I stamped the topiary image with Club Scrap hybrid ink in Earth, and colored with Copics. I die-cut and embossed the image with Nestabilities, and then used the die as a mask for a quick application of Tea Dye with a stippling brush.

I matted that in green, and then glued the image to a card. With Club Scrap hybrid ink in Moss, I stamped "Just Because" from the stamp set, and added stick-on pearls.

Finally, I put a little glue on the topiary top, and sprinkled on some Flower Soft in Summer. Disclaimer: I did NOT count the time it took to open the Flower Soft container!

This really was a quick, fun card to make.

Travel Tag

I made this tag for the challenge this week at Kard Krazy. The challenge was to make a tag with a travel theme. This tag features a bicylist riding off a French map:

The bicylist and the sentiment are Hero Arts, and the printed paper is some old 7 Gypsies stuff. I finished with two pearl brads, and some dotted ribbon. Thanks for the challenge!

Tuesday Tag

Since Weekend Taggers stopped their challenges, I haven't posted anything. A blogger I've read for a long time at "Kard Krazy" issued a Tuesday Tag challenge. The challenge was to use a directional theme. She suggested using arrows, and I remembered the arrow brads I've had for a long time. The image of the kids is Stampington; the sentiment is Inkadinkado.

I've Been to Hell

in Grand Cayman:



I even saw the devil, before he had to rush off:


The action of water on the limestone rock of the island led to the naming of the town. The formation is described as being "about the size of half a soccer field."

Grand Cayman

Cayman Islands Turtle Farm

Green turtles at Cayman Turtle Farm. Turtles are a delicacy enjoyed by the Camanites.




Turtles of all sizes.

Labadee, Haiti

The inlet, from the boat.

Relaxation awaits. . .

The windward side of the island, with the Dragon's Flight zip line over the water.

Joyce taking one last photo.

Happy Birthday, Cupcake!

The Weekend Tagger's blog turns one year old, and the challenge is to make a happy birthday tag.

I used the Cuttlebug "Happy Birthday" embossing folder, and chalked the embossed edges slightly to improve the readability. The cupcake is paper pieced, and blinged with some crystals.

"Cute and Cuddly"?

I thought you said "rude and crabby!"

For the Weekend Taggers, it's a bit of a cheat. I may have some "cute and cuddly" stamps some where, but this is the old dearie that appeared in my hand for this week's challenge.

Stamp is Art Impressions; printed paper is BG's Euphoria, from the 6 x 6 pad, so the patterns are sized just right. Her robe is pieced with Euphoria also. Love this stamp, but couldn't think of just the right sentiment. She'll likely end up on a birthday card for a friend.

It's Officially Spring

I saw the first robin of spring today, sitting in my driveway. He looked cold and grumpy, but he was here.

Here in my part of Montana, the robins migrate in the fall to warmer places. When they show up in the spring, it's the first sure sign that winter is done. Oh, we may have some snow, but it won't last long, nor be as cold as winter's snow.

Happy Birthday, Neph!

I made this card for my nephew's 16th birthday. I had to cut the golfer out after a poorly-executed watercolor background was attempted. I used the Cuttlebug Swiss Dots folder to emboss dimples in the golf ball, and on the inside, drew a hole flag with "16" on it. (I was inordinately proud of these innovations.)

He's getting his driver's license, which will likely be a blessing and a curse for his parents. No more shlepping him around, but plenty of opportunity for worry! He's a good kid, but no saint.

1 Ribbon, 2 Buttons, 3 Brads

This was the challenge at Weekend Taggers this weekend. I was sorting through some papers, and came across the butterfly pattern, which inspired me to construct this series of three tags:

Using glossy paper, I applied inks directly to paper with sponges. Distress Inks: Scattered Straw, Mustard Seed, Dried Marigold, Worn Lipstick, Fired Brick. Vivid: Plum, Spring Green, Aqua. All sentiment stamps are Just Rite Stampers. The stamps on the first butterfly: Chinese characters, Hero Arts; Flower flourish, Inkadinkado. Second butterfly stamp is All Night Media. Third butterfly: Rose, Stampin'Up!, Italian Text, Hero Arts.

I scanned it, and it doesn't quite fit on the scanner bed. In real life, the top of the ribbon is finished with a little bow.

This was a fun challenge.

Erin Go Bragh!

May those that love us, love us;
And if they don't love us,
May God turn their hearts.
And if He doesn't turn their hearts,
May He turn their ankles,
So we'll know them by their limping.

Hurry, Spring!

After last week's snow and below zero temps, I am ready for spring!

The image is Impression Obsession, colored with Copic markers. I had to cut out the boots after an unfortunate attempt to add a shadow. I liked the look of the Martha Stewart lace punch edging. I found the pearls while I was picking up the living room (OOPS), so added those, too.

A Sweet Surprise

The tag challenge this weekend was tea time. I have a set of unmounted rubber stamps with tea cups, tea quotes, etc., which I cannot find. Luckily, my order from Impression Obsession arrived just in time with this tea cup stamp:

The tea cup is colored with Copic markers. The sentiment is Amuse Artstamps.

I made several versions of the tea cup tag. This was the first:

I guess these are robin's eggs, and the first tag is farm chickens. We don't normally get brown eggs at the store, only white ones. The sentiment is generated on the computer.

A Fish Tale

I made a handful of cards to donate to Kris for her silent auction at the seminary. I also donated some socks I knitted, and a hat and scarf.

Anyway, I spent this weekend making cards. I made a couple versions of this card. The inside says "Another fish tale."

Winged Angel

The challenge at Weekend Taggers was to make a tag featuring wings, or winged things. Rather than a bird, I thought about this Stamper's Anonymous angel stamp:

Stamped the image with CS "Earth" hybrid ink, colored with Copic markers, and blinged it up with my gold leaf pen. Instead of a ribbon, I found a package of bookmark tassels I've had for years -- voila, not only a tag, but a bookmark!

How readable is this dreck?

On a blog I read occasionally, the blogger found a website to test the readability of a website. Naturally, I was curious about my writing. Here are the results:

Readability Results
The following table contains the readability results for http://mossagate.blogspot.com/ .

Reading Level Results Summary Value
Total sentences 640
Total words 2204
Average words per Sentence 3.44
Words with 1 Syllable 1170
Words with 2 Syllables 411
Words with 3 Syllables 223
Words with 4 or more Syllables 400
Percentage of word with three or more syllables 28.27%
Average Syllables per Word 1.93
Gunning Fog Index 12.68
Flesch Reading Ease 39.78
Flesch-Kincaid Grade 8.57

Gunning-Fog Index
The following is the algorithm to determine the Gunning-Fog index.

Calculate the average number of words you use per sentence.
Calculate the percentage of difficult words in the sample (words with three or more syllables).
Add the totals together, and multiply the sum by 0.4.
Algorithm: (average_words_sentence + number_words_three_syllables_plus) * 0.4
The result is your Gunning-Fog index, which is a rough measure of how many years of schooling it would take someone to understand the content. The lower the number, the more understandable the content will be to your visitors. Results over seventeen are reported as seventeen, where seventeen is considered post-graduate level.

Typical Fog Index Scores Fog Index Resources
6 TV guides, The Bible, Mark Twain
8 Reader's Digest
8 - 10 Most popular novels
10 Time, Newsweek
11 Wall Street Journal
14 The Times, The Guardian
15 - 20 Academic papers
Over 20 Only government sites can get away with this, because you can't ignore them.
Over 30 The government is covering something up

What I find quite odd is that I am as inclined to use FOUR syllable words as I am to use TWO. Guess that law school education is paying off!

Here's the link to test a website: http://juicystudio.com/services/readability.php#readweb

The Valentine Pie

Commissioned by a friend for her husband. Reportedly, he enjoyed it.

Romance and Robert Burns

This weekend's tag challenge at "Tag, You're It" was romance. I just got a new stamp set from Stampin' Up called "5th Ave. Floral" with a lovely rose stamp. From there, the leap to Robert Burns was easy.

Here's the first try. I colored the rose with watercolor markers and a blending pen. The reddest pen is rendered rather more pink. The first stanza of the familiar poem is printed from my computer. The rose is covered with clear Copic Spica; as I always say, the sparkle is never picked up by a scan.

The next one used the same elements, just assembled in a different order.


I couldn't finish without producing at least ONE "red, red rose," so stamped on solid red and assembled with a tiny bit of ribbon:

Just a Note

Weekend Taggers challenge this week was a specific pattern. I complied, except I left off a horizontal line at the top, for lack of room:

I can't recall the stamp companies, and I am too lazy to run downstairs and look.
This was actually the last in a series of tags that began orange and blue. This was the last tag in that series, and the only one worth seeing:

These stamps are all Stampin'Up.

Plum Crazy

I got a little carried away with the Weekend Taggers Purple challenge. Still in a Valentine mode, I made the first tag:

The wreath and sentiment are from a Hero Arts clear set. I stamped with Colorbox Chalk ink, and added little plastic flowers with brad centers from Queen & Co. The background is lightly figured with swirls, from Crate Paper.

I wasn't totally happy with this tag, and remembered my Sizzix posey die. I dug up three shades of purple and cut the flower set out three times. I assembled a flower, and free-handed some leaves, and made my first posy tag:

The sentiment is Hero Arts; background paper is Lasting Memories. I used the last bit of the ribbon from the first tag.



I still had two more flowers to assemble and use. Here, with a Stampin'Up sentiment:


The last tag is my favorite. Sentiment is from Memory Box.

I love the bold graphic quality of this tag, probably because I didn't use the printed paper background. All these tags will eventually end up on cards, most likely. That's one reason I love these challenges -- I end up creating elements for use in cards, for those times when I've got no card mojo.

Your Days are Numbered

The Weekend Taggers challenge was to use numbers in the creation of a tag. Here's my interpretation:

I ran a piece of Lasting Memories white core cardstock through my Big Shot in a Cuttlebug folder, then lightly sanded the raised surface to take off the brown layer of paper. Prima flowers, with beads glued on as centers. I added a birthday greeting, since this tag will likely be the focal point of a birthday card.

Iguana Be Your Valentine

Created for an ATC swap:

The stamp is a dollar stamp I bought at Joann's; it came with a birthday sentiment. I thought he needed google eyes, which I've been hoarding for a long time. He's colored with Copic markers, and a Martha doily punch finishes the Valentine theme.

Chocolate Drops

I've finished by ATCs for Susan K.'s "Chocolate 3 Ways" ATC challenge. The challenge itself really had nothing to do with chocolate -- it was a challenge to use only the colors of dark brown, medium brown and light brown. My mind fixed on the "chocolate," so I went very literal:

The candy is a Qwikut die; the stamps are some old unmounteds I've had for a long time, possibly from Sunday International.

Sweet Treats

I'm working on lots of Valentine cards to donate to Pat Adam, so I used all the V-Day supplies spread all over my table to make these tags for the Weekend Tagger's challenge:




No stamping, these are all Qwikut dies. The cookie is very time consuming, to pick out all the sprinkles in the icing, then replace with sprinkles cut out of maroon and pink. But well worth the effort, I think!

Stripey Goodness

Last Friday's challenge by the Weekend Taggers was to use stripes. Here's my tag:


Stamps are by Flourishes. Thanks for the challenge!

Franklin!

Franklin Habit, author of the blog "Panopticon," taught a class at Wild Purls in Billings, MT this past Saturday. He lead us through the classic Elizabeth Zimmermann pattern for the Tomten Jacket.

We knit up most of a miniature Tomten in the hours from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. It was an interesting knit, and Franklin was a good teacher. He told us about the origins of his delinquent roommate, Dolores, to the delight of us all.

A Snowy Day

I went down to Riverfront Park last Sunday on a photo expedition. We've had lots of snow this season.


Dutcher Trail, about 1:30 p.m. The shadows are already long, with the shortness of winter daytime.





The Yellowstone River, with the South Hills. The north bank is iced-in; the south channel is still open. In fact, there was a cool video at the Billings Gazette website that showed a deer on an ice floe, rafting down the river.