Stampin! with Jaydee

Hi Everyone.  Happy Saturday.  I hope you all had a wonderful week and are ready and prepared for this long weekend.  I know I am!

It's the fabulously talented Vicki's turn to host our Addicted to CAS challenge this week.  She has a great code word for us.  I spent a fair amount of time thinking about what I would do for this challenge.  Texture can take you in so many different directions.  In the end, I settled on texture from stencils and then paired it with the smooth texture of card stock, a button and some silver cord.   Before I show you my card, here's the code word:

Remember, if you play along with us for the next two weeks, we have a fabulous sponsor who has donated a great prize for our winner.

Store: http://buyscribblesdesigns.blogspot.com/

Now.  For my card, I decided to practice a technique that Tim Holtz showed us in the onlinecardclasses watercoloring for card makers.  It was all about inking up a stencil, spritzing it with water, and then laying down the stencil onto water color paper.  I played around for a little while, before deciding on a gender neutral color scheme of oranges and blues.   I used the faded dot stencil from Ranger for this technique.

I paired it with a vellum tag stamped with a sentiment from the SSS "You" stamp set.  The next problem I had was what base to use for the card.  Originally I decided on a beautiful blue shimmer card stock, but it felt distinctly feminine.  Yes... I know... blue... doesn't generally scream feminine.  But, when it's blue and shimmery, it really felt feminine.  So, I decided to go with a black shimmer instead and that way the black of the card base tied into the sentiment.  :-)  Here's my card

I love the texture from the stencil with the smooth shimmer of the card base and the silver cord.  The blue of the button picks up the blue from the textured background and the black sentiment ties into the card base.  In the end, I was happy with the card :-)

I do hope you will play along with us this week.  Don't forget to check out the fabulous cards created by the design team.  I promise you there is lots of inspiration for you!

On a personal note:

SO happy that it is a long weekend.  Lou and I have lots of things to do, but the weather is supposed to be perfect!  It certainly was this afternoon.   79 degrees.  Yes.. that is 79 degrees. :-)  A slight breeze.  Low humidity.  PERFECTION!  I took the photograph of my card on the deck and it was well after 5 when I did so.  The sky was still blue and the wind didn't blow over my card.... always a very good thing!

I promised you some wildlife shots and I have to tell you, this was one time when I regretted that my camera was downstairs when I was on the deck!!!!   I went out in between conference calls this afternoon.  I looked at the wetland and thought... mmmmmm... there is something white in the wetland that isn't normally there.  However, I didn't have my glasses on, so went in to get my binoculars.   I looked out.  Shouted out some expletive.  Rushed into the house and said to Lou... "you won't believe what's in our garden"!  I rushed downstairs to get my camera, but when I came back, this wonderful creature had been chased off by three redtailed hawks and was circling above our home in the thermals.

I managed to get a REALLY bad shot of him as he was flying out of the trees

Yes..... that is... a BALD EAGLE!!!!!!  Seriously.. Can I shout that louder!  A BALD EAGLE in our back yard!!!!!  I was stunned.  When I first saw him, he was perched on the ground right at the edge of the water.  When I came out with my camera, he had flown up in the tree.  However, the redtails were not going to let him rest and he took off.  The next shot I got of him was this: 

Now.. the redtailed hawk is not a small bird.... but you can see just how small he is compared to the Bald Eagle.  What  a magnificent beast!  It is so easy to see why he is the National Bird of the US.  Majestic is the only adjective to use.  I was absolutely thrilled.   In fact, I was about 5 minutes late for a conference call with my manager and his team.  I got on the call and apologized for being late and said... "Well, I'm sorry I'm late.  But you guys are no where near as interesting as the Bald Eagle I was watching in MY BACK YARD!"  Even my boss was impressed.  He said: "you know, I've had some great excuses for being late for a conference call, but none of them beat that!" Oh.  Yeah!  It beats any of the ones I have had, too!

That's all I have for you tonight:-)  I'll be back on Sunday with my Paper Player's card.  In the meantime, warm hugs and prayers for those of you who need a little lift tonight.

Hugs

Jaydee

Card recipe:

• Stamps:  You - SSS
• Card stock:  Water color: Strathmore.  Shimmer - PTI
• Inks:  Ranger
• Accessories:  Button: Stampin' Up!  Elastic Cord: Stampin' Up