Needing more time? R E T I R E !

OK, if you are retired, you're laughing already.

Retirement doesn't really give you more time-- no sooner does the alarm clock stop waking you up for work then your inner body wakes you up.. and then it's time to fill the hours.

A friend and I were emailing about this just today, and then I recalled a card I made a few years back for my banker that was retiring.  I'd love to share it with you today since to me it's relevant.

 The flower image is by Stampendous and one of my favorites as far as Roses go.   I think this was my first step into hinged cards.. and boy did I love it!

Creating a hinged card with these types of dies really showcases their beauty.  To learn more about hinged cards check out : 

http://www.amazingpapergrace.com/filigree-hinged-card-tutorial-and-a-giveaway/

I picked yellow as my color due to it's meaning which you can read about here:

 http://www.proflowers.com/blog/history-and-meaning-of-yellow-roses

Allow me to share with you some photos from my gardens....  the yard and it's wonders are also a passion of mine.

Our yard is built into a mountain and the retaining wall wraps around 100 feet.  The wall itself is about 3.5 high, then the slope is covered with rocks... it's this wall you're seeing in the photos here.  On the base of the wall I grow flowers and herbs.  There are some plants that return each year and then each spring I plant different flowers to bloom till late Fall.  Come early Nov. I clear the garden out and shut down the automatic watering system.

I begin again in late March planting flowers. In May, the veggie garden comes to life. 

Tonight we'll be eating these two guys.... YUM!  And if you look hard, you can find a green tomato or two in the background.  Next weekend I plan to rip the garden down, so anyone not ripe, or on their way, head off to the trash.  This year I can not let the garden continue till the end of October.  I'm needed elsewhere.

As always, thanks for 
stopping by and please, if you like, leave a comment. Let me know you were here. :)

Have a great day!

Cara Febe Giaquinto

First day of Autumn

Fall is my favorite time of year.  Growing up on Long Island (NY) I got to enjoy all the wonderful colors Mother Nature thought so kindly to share with everyone.  Golden reds, bright oranges, and browns in so many shades one can't even name them all-- least not me!  

Driving on the Southern State parkway was like living in a hand painted masterpiece.  Every turn around the bend revealed another layer of art to thrill and excite me.  I loved the change of seasons from Summer to Fall.  

When I was older I'd take the Long Island Ferry across the Sound with friends.  It was such fun to drive our car onto the ferry and relax as we crossed over to Connecticut for a day long adventure driving around the farm lands, and thru the many roadways with the splendor of Fall.  I do need to admit here and now that each trip taken was planned so that we could visit different rubber stamp stores along the route.  The added bonus was the farm stands ripe with Autumn treasures. 


The changing of the leaves meant soon my favorite holiday would be here.  I loved celebrating Halloween it was the most enjoyable and fun holiday all year long.  In the house we didn't have to prepare for days for the dinner quests as we did for other holidays,for there were none!  No need to do extra chores or any extra cleaning.  Halloween was about F*U*N!

Weeks before the holiday Mom would help my brothers and I figure out what we wanted to be dressed as and then the week of the holiday our excitement took over and we bounced around as if we had already eaten a bucket full of sugary candies.

Yep, Fall was and is my favorite time of year, and Halloween was and always will be my favorite holiday.  So it it any wonder that today I'm going to share with you some cards I've made using images from my favorite rubber and digital stamp artist:  Ms. Mo Manning!

It's a few years now that I've been collecting her images in rubber.  There are several companies that sell them, one is Penny Black and I've finally figured out how to upload a link to pbstamps.com on the side bar-- John, the owner, is a doll to shop with.  He goes out of his way to be sure you get what you want, quickly, and at good prices too.  

Stampendous.com also stocks images by Mo Manning, as does Stampingbella.com.  My most recent purchases for Christmas images came from there.  Expect soon to see them here as well.
You need to check all three places because each carries different images created by Ms. Manning.

Meanwhile, take a peek at cards I made to celebrate Autumn and Halloween-- images are a mix of rubber and digital. (Since I'm talking about my favorites, let it be known my favorite type of image is that which is made of natural man made rubber.  Cling or wood mount.  )

 These first two images come in a transparent set of stamps by Penny Black called "Glenda and Frankie". 

Regardless of my passion for natural red rubber, I had to get this set because my husband's name is Frankie and like the artist, the season and the brand, Frankie is one of my favorites too! ;) 

Next up came my first step into the digital world...  

A few years back I was left with no choice but to purchase a laser printer so that I could purchase and print more images that was available in rubber.  While I liked that I could adjust the size of the images to fit my needs, I missed using an ink pad and working in my studio.  However I did print myself up a bunch of the images I bought, and have them filed away for use any year I'd like to use them.

 I esp. enjoyed this witch flying as I wanted a dark sky, yet not so dark as to miss seeing her fly by. So I worked with two different shades of grey Memento Ink Pads and some ripped text weight paper to create this scene. I hope you like it.....

 This little girl I just adore!  She's so cute sitting there taking a break after pulling the corn ... makes me miss the fact I didn't grow corn in the garden this year.

I love this gal on the bike.  I have her dancing as well and am working on a card with her so keep an eye out for it to post here soon.  I mean really, isn't this old gal just too wonderful?!?!?!?!

I hope you're enjoying your visit here and hope you sign up to get an email when I update and you are most welcome and encouraged to leave a comment.  Be it good or bad, it's all welcome.

Thanks to stopping by, see ya next time!

Cara Febe

Holiday Card making begins in July

Sat. Sept. 5, 2015

Today I took a break from making holiday cards for Dec. 2015 and switched gears to work on Halloween.  I'm teaching a friend how to create a pop up card and so far today we only got our 'insert' done.. or begun depending on how much more we do to it.  I'm not sharing the card yet.. you have to wait. Sorry.

However, when my friend left I took out my box of already completed Holiday cards and counted that I have only 23 done so far... I need another 35-40 cards this year...  guess I better get back to work, huh?

Meanwhile I thought I'd share some of my cards with you right now...

Here's a grouping of 6 cards for Christmas.  Despite how many I make, there's always another idea that pops into my head.  I never get tired or bored of a layout.  My biggest problem in the end is WHO gets WHICH???    I've taken a few up-close shots so you can enjoy them better or see them better to ask a question if you like.  I welcome them. :)

This gal up on top was fun... I had a few friends over two weeks ago and one gal had the mulberry paper but wasn't sure what to do with it... that's how this card came about.  I showed the ladies how to wet down the mulberry paper and then gently tear it so that it left fibers...which later on I applied glitter glue to.  That's the bit of sparkle you may see.

This is an easel card and I enjoyed adding the snowflakes on strings so that they wiggle and move about as the card is lifted up and slipped behind the "Happy Holidays" button I created from a sticker.  I love the sparkle that glitter paper adds to a card, and there's no better place for it then on a Christmas Card!

I've enlarged this card so much so that perhaps you can see better the finer details.  I have this acetate with white dots on it....  I used it as an overlay over the stamped and colored image so that it looks like snow is falling over the girl and the penguin.  I think it adds such a nice touch.  I only wish I knew where I bought it-- so I could share. It's a few years old and I'm sorry I don't know anymore.  I also used a scrap of embossed snowflakes to add more dimension, as well as the punched out flakes, the rhinestones and the silvery sparkly fibers.  All in all, so far, this is one of my top 5 cards that I've made this year already. The snowman card with the teal leaves is also a favorite as well as the door card.  That one i made yesterday and just love it!   I hope you enjoy them all.

Thanks for stopping by today, feel free to leave a comment, to share my blog or just say "Hi!"

Cara Febe Giaquinto

Tag from Judy N. in July 2015

Sept. 3, 2015

Summer Tag Turn Around Swap Part Two.

A few days ago I shared with you the tag I made and sent out in July that then was turned into a card and sent back to me in August.  This was a fun and wonderful swap held on the Stamping Queens group I belong to.

Earlier today the gal that I had to return a tag too received her card I made in the mail, so I feel free to share what I did now.

The tag I received in July was a two part tag of which I have to describe as the photo has up and disappeared.  So, here goes!

The larger tag had a phrase on it, a quote from a child I think and there was a pocket which had another smaller tag tucked inside.  The stamped image was a young boy with a frog.  The artist was Judy N. and she did a great job and inspired my creativity.

I decided that since Judy put a great deal of thought into her tag for me, I'd do the same in the card I created.

Here's the front view of the card I made:

  

 My dancing "Frog-a-rina" was colored with Copics and I stamped onto the patterned paper the words "A card for you...ribbit open!".....  I must tell you this all gave me a big smile to create.

Since I began with a 4x12 sheet of green card stock I folded the card in three sections.  This front piece with my dancing frog was singular.  The remaining two sections were folded over creating a pocket in which I then slipped the original tag into.

As the card is opened you see on the left side the following saying:

May the light always find 

you on a dreary day.

When you need to be home, 

may you find your way.

May you always have courage

to take a chance.

And never find frogs

in your underpants. 

On the right side is where the pocket is for the original tag to slip in... you can see it sticking out a bit here... and the fibers Judy N. used to embellish her tag with are exposed when the card is either open or closed.  Which looked great as it gave a hint of wonder to the card.

Here's a close up of the frog hanging on the line.... I used a sticker of a frog's head over the stamped image.. it was just too much fun to do so, how could I not?  I brushed on a coating of Clear Wink of Stella to give the frog's face some sparkle.  It's doesn't show up here, but it was nice looking!

To complete the card I went back to the original idea of a tag.  I created the look of a ribbon with the use of the patterned background paper and slipped it into the tag's slots to secure it all to the card.

 

 This was a fun and creative swap and I'm glad I took part in it.  I hope you've enjoyed viewing this card and the others and invite you to leave a comment or two.    

When the photo of the tag Judy N. created is found I'll add it to this page and update any followers. tag from Judy N. July 2015 

I'm new to this blogging stuff, but if I did it right, you can click on the above underlined words and it should take you to see the tag Judy made me, and that is hidden in this card.

  

 

August 27, 2015

We had a kitchen themed swap on StampersoftheUSA and I loved the chance to use this old stamp of mine... a super sized cup and saucer!  Here's what I did with it  and with a hang tag from my morning tea.

 There are only a handful of rubber stamps used to create this card.  Two different types of lemons, the words, the cup and saucer, a tea bag, the words "TEA packed in Sri Lanka" and then the definition of 'tea'.  

The Tea Cup I colored in with a copic marker, while the lemons were inked up with Marvy pens.  The rest of the card was stippled with a brush and Memento inks.   

Another card mailed out this week went to my friend Gail to celebrate her birthday this month.  I have fun creating this card as I used a game ticket from the Circus Circus hotel and casino in Reno, NV where I visited earlier in the summer.

Gail's a big circus fan and I thought she'd enjoy this card made with Tim Holtz's images and dies.  I hope you do too! :)

Here's a complete front view of the card.

Here you can see the Circus Circus Reno Ticket I brought home just for this card.

 In creating this card I found that thin metal dies do not cut out Mylar material.  The first balloon is Mylar and has a great shine to it.. then the orange and green balloons I die cut from a light weight glitter stock.  The strings are pink glitter and glued behind the little man.  

Yes, alot of work went into creating this card, and I packed it up well in a box prior to shipping today...  but I know my friend will love this card and cherish it for many years to come.  

Thank you for looking and please feel free to leave a comment!

:) Cara "Febe"

 

Summer Tag Turn around swap: StampingQueens group

In July on the Stamping Queens group we were challenged to create a tag with a summer theme.  Once our tags were made and mailed we were then asked to hold onto the tags we received for another swap in August.

I had enjoyed creating my little tag for summer and mailed it onto to another member of the group.

The other day my Summer tag was sent back to me as it was turned into a card... Have a look!

I created the tag, and then Patty C. created embossed clouds on the card, creating a great background for the work I did.  Then to complete the card Patty added Flip Flops which just was PERFECT!

 

August 26, 2015

 

Marbled Eye Jack at 9 weeks old 6/2014

After waiting over a year for our new Springer pup to be born and ready to come home, finally mid June, 2014, Jackie came home.  This photo was taken in the car while he laid in my lap which explains why his little bitty nose was chopped off-- as I was the one taking the photo!

Despite the loss on the cute nose, this has become a favorite photo of mine because it's the best photo of his tri -color eye.  

Today, August 20, 2015 I'm starting this blog more for myself then any other reason.  I enjoy the art of card making with my art rubber stamps and often times create a card I just don't want to give away.  Instead, I want to hold on to them and share them with my friends, or even just admire them myself for a longer time period.  

Yet I can't.  I create the cards for friends and family and for the exchanges in the groups I"m apart of.  I have to give them up.

So I'm hoping this blog will allow me to keep my cards a bit longer, while still mailing them out to be enjoyed by someone else in person, as I have enjoyed them here at home.  

I'd also like to share with others some of the beautiful cards I receive from others.  Think of is as visiting a museum of friendship, and like a museum of art you get to look.......
but not touch. ;)

So if you're reading this, please enjoy, and enjoy too my Marbled eye Jack as I'm sure his photos will  pop up here too every so often. 

Cara "Febe" Giaquinto