Looking back at 2012

Several of the bloggers whom I follow have posted their favorite cards from the past year, and I think I'll do the same.   Through looking back at my card making I might be able to see what is going well and what is going wrong, if you know what I mean?  So here goes...

 I like the colors on this first card; they seem to fit the digi well.  I was imagining the "hot" chick on a hot sidewalk or beach...And I like the texture of the red paper.

 I have to confess that I really do love this card which I made for my hubby for Valentines Day.  I had not made a shaped card before that was quite so complicated, and the success I felt was a real highlight.  Hope to make more in 2013 using the CAMEO that the same sweet guy bought me for Christmas this year!

I thought this card came together very well.  I should have matter the heart and the word panel with black, but I still like it.  I think the ribbon finished it nicely.  Simple and sweet.

 This green card is my all time favorite for several reasons.  First I LOVE the digi by A Day For Daisies.  And I love the way my pencil coloring turned out, looking like that diaphanous fabric that is often used for these dresses.  I love the embellishments also, especially the gem being put in the young girl's hair.  Wish I could get it all together like this more often!

 A guy's birthday card, digi from Bugaboo.  Isn't he cute?  I like the digi papers and the jute lariat.  I thought they and the three copper brads added a nice touch.

 This was my first Z-fold card.  It was a lot of work, but I was quite satisfied with it in the end.  I matted the white and gold paper with a lighter shade of the base color.  I haven't made many more of these, but I'm thinking I ought to...

 A Bugaboo image, a digi background from Create with TLC and a printable that was a freebie but I don't remember from where (I'm sorry).  I really like the way the blue and orange work together on this and the ribbon that makes it pop.

I've made two of these using a Create with TLC image and sentiment.  I absolutely love the way this turned out, a nice mixture of colors and textures, though you cannot see much of them in the photo.

 Another shaped card, made with my new Cameo.  It was much easier to do than the first  one, made with my SD.  I love having the space to work with.. .  I opened the Cameo on Dec. 1, used it for 3 weeks sometimes difficultly) and will be shipping it back this week because the screen doesn't work.  Phooey!  Hope it won't be long before the new one arrives!

This is an awful picture, I know, not at all in focus, but I still like the card.  I like the layers that I used, though I think I should have had an orange layer above the patterened layer and under the green.  Hummm.  Guess I need to remember more layers, that seems to be a theme here...

Well, I believe this is post #109 for me, and I am nearing the end on my second year of blogging.  Funny, I know I'm not terribly consistent, but I really do enjoy this.  It's an interesting way to use the writing skills that I have done so little with over the years.  As a teacher, I write all the time, but it tends to be short notes and comments, not anything personal or very substantial.  It will be interesting to see where blogger leads me in 2013!

HAPPY NEW YEAR to all of you!

SiskiyouSue

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

I just want to wish all of you a lovely holiday and a wonderful time together with your families.  Of all the things that Christmas means to me, the joy of family together is the most important to me.

My daughter and I have spent two days in the kitchen:  fudge, caramels, chocolate covered pretzels, peanut butter-date balls, cinnamon rolls, pies.  And the memories of family members who have gone are with us strong.  Family is the one thing that sticks with us forever. What a blessing that God has given us.

I hope to visit with you all again in the near future (certainly not so long as this last interlude was).  Merry Christmas and God's Blessings to all of you.

SiskiyouSue

Birthday

Hello!  Sorry this picture is blurry.  I've been out of town for several days and took this with my iPhone after I finished it in my motel room.  I never travel without some of my card-making goodies.  I love curling up with an image to color and one of the 6x6 pads to make the card with.  Makes being away from home not so difficult.

The cute image is another from the now defunct Pollycraft.  I'm SO glad I caught their going-out-of-business sale!  These are the images I seem to come back to over and over even though I have oodles and oodles of other cute ones.  I'm really going to have to branch out eventually.

One more picture before I get ready for work.  This is my wonderful travel bag.  I picked it up at Sears in the hardware department because it has so many wonderful nooks and crannies and because it is exactly big enough for 12x12 papers!  The only problem with it is that if I'm not careful it weighs tons!!!

Hope you'll all enjoy a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday and find a few minutes to relax and remember your blessings.  We are all so fortunate!  My husband and I are traveling to Portland, OR to celebrate with our daughter, something to be thankful for in itself.  She lived too far away for short visits for about 8 years, so I am thankful every time we are able to go.  And I am thankful that my sister is able to have Mom over for Thanksgiving this year.  Mom is so much better since moving into a new home close to my sister's house.  It is a minor miracle. (Can any miracle be minor?)

HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO YOU ALL!
SiskiyouSue

Cold!

Hello, everyone.  I expected to post at least one project today, but that just didn't work out.  It has been so cold here that I spent the day just trying to stay warm.  It was 17 degrees below zero at 8:30 this morning!  Of course, we are practically in Canada, and it is time for some cold weather, but this has come straight from the Arctic.  We got about 10 inches of snow on Thursday which isn't so unusual for this time of year, but that cold is.  We have our pellet stove running constantly and I baked brownies and two batches of cookies to keep the kitchen warm.  It's hard in an older house without lots of insulation.  Thank goodness we re-did the insulation in the living room this summer!

Anyway, I'm not crying, but I did want to post this picture to show you what's happening here.  Don't suppose we'll  be lucky enough that this will be the worst storm of the winter?  Ha!!!

Seems like the entire country is suffering from weather-related problems.  As miserable as this cold is, it could certainly be lots worse!  I only hope things are settling down for all you back East, and you're getting things back to normal.  Thinking about that really helps me keep things in perspective.

Have a safe, warm, and dry week!
SiskiyouSue

Sympathy Card

 Good morning, I hope?  I understand that Sandy has stalled, so will be continuing to wreak havoc on many today.  I hope you are all holding out warm and dry and that any damage to your homes is minimal.  I’m worrying about my niece in New Jersey.  At least living in a high rise should mean that she stays dry! (and please don't tall me if I'm wrong about that...)

I know that we all think that sympathy cards are the hardest to make, but when I realized that I needed a card for the family of a long-time friend, this came immediately to mind.  This man loved and raised horses, and I knew this was perfect for him.  He would have loved this picture.

I have lost the name of the digi artist who drew this wonderful horse.  I’m sorry, I would really love to give her credit.  I thought I knew who it was, but couldn’t locate the picture on her blog or anywhere else.  If you can help, please do.  I’d like to thank her again.  (I should add that that's not a crease in the bottom corner, but a reflection, sorry.)

I used a lovely Kraft paper to print the image on, and the base is a lighter shade of Kraft.  I decided on no embellishments, I think the image is enough.  I did make another version on white.  I think I'll add a touch of color to the horse on that one and perhaps some jute twine.  We'll see.

It is a warm morning here in Montana, very welcome after two weeks of freezing weather.  The weather person is predicting a temp in the mid-50's today, which should do wonders for melting off the 3 or 4 inches of snow that are still on the ground.  My cat spent the night outdoors and after eating went right back out this morning.  He hasn't stirred outside in the last two weeks!  I think he's probably a better predictor of weather than the weatherperson, lol!  Anyway, this cold spell almost made me think I was living in North Dakota again, where the cold and snow begin in October and don't leave until April.  Can't say that I miss that!

My prayers are with everyone in the east or mid-west today.

SiskiyouSue

Challenges I'm entering this card into:

None 

Happy Birthday

Hello!  I've been doing quite a bit of crafting this week, trying to keep my hands busy with crafting.  I have a theory that if my hands are full of colored pencils, adhesives, papers and such they cannot be lifting goodies into my mouth.  Unfortunately, I'm only partially successful, lol.  

I thought I should post this before I forget...  I did remember to take a photo this time, which in itself is pretty amazing.  I'm always thinking about it just after I like the flap on the envelope.  

These lovely blue, green and yellow papers are from a 6x6 pad, Sun Kiss by Prima.   I'm having lots of fun with it.  Under the digi there are 2 texture layers, a rectangle of burlap and a coppery ribbon (recycled from a candle).  In person you can see all the layers though in the picture they don't show up so well.  I added some gold Stickles on a few of the flowers.  I think that is becoming my trademark.  I absolutely love Stickles!

Thanks for letting me share with you.  Hope you enjoyed looking.  Have a lovely Autumn day!

SiskiyouSue


Challenges I'm entering this card in:
Flourishes (birthday)
Crafty Sentiments (recycled)
Make It Monday
Lady Anne's Challenges
 Fuss and Fancy
Stamptacular Sunday Challenge

Trick or Treat!

Good evening...  Cold here, only 19 this morning.  Hope you are warmer than that, because it really does feel too early for winter weather.  Of course, in Montana this isn't really unusual, but that doesn't make it any more welcome.

Good news!  I have carpet in my living room after 4 months without!  It has been like living in a warehouse, ick!  Hopefully I'll have all my furniture back in place in a couple of days...  

Meanwhile, in trying to stay out of the way, I spent quite a bit of time crafting.  I have one last Halloween card to share tonight, and a couple more to share during the week.  

This one is very simple:  Lettering Delights graphics printed on plain white cardstock then highlited with diamond Stickles.  

I fussy cut the graphics to pop  up on the base, but that was all I did.  Don't you love the Stickles on their braces?   They are about as scary as I hope to see on Halloween!

Thanks for looking!

SiskiyouSue
Challenges I am entering this card in:
 Come and Get It Challenges
Dream Valley Challengeshttp://dreamvalleychallenges.blogspot.com/
Eclectic Ellapu
Gingerloft Challenge
Scrappy Frogs Challenge Blog
Make It Monday

Iguana Wish You...

My son asked me to make a card for a 12-year old, son of his best friend.  I finally settled on something that I hope will tickle his funny bone.  Who knows with a 12-year old.  I'm pretty satisfied with the card, though.  I have two photos, the version that he got and the version without the googly eyes.  I prefer the version without them for the extra color.  I'm going to make another of these cards and think I'll use the googly eyes but maybe I can get a colored version???  

The sentiment is from Create With TLC, but I used a different lizard because I thought it was a little funnier for a boy that age.  Here's the version without the googly eyes:

I'd be interested in your thoughts on the eyes.

Thanks for looking!  Have a nice day.

SiskiyouSue
Challenges I'm entering with this card:
Lady Anne's Challenges
Nutcrafters
Make It Monday

I Love Halloween!

I love Halloween, all the wonderful digistamps that are available and the variety of amazing papers.  Everything from cute to spooky to downright scary, anything you could ask to play with! I've really had fun on this card, using up lots of odds and ends.  There's a scarecrow sticker (I added some marker to give it some dimension), digi paper that I printed, the same digistamp I used before ( Pumpkin Love by Torico), even some diecut leaves that I bought.  I also added some marker to the veins on the leaves to make them stand out.

That's a close up, the entire card is below.  Isn't the scarecrow cute?  I thought he looked great with the witch.

Thanks for looking in.  Have a great week...  hope you can find some time for crafting!

SiskiyouSue 

Retirement Card for a Man

Hi.  Back again, with a quick card that I put together for a retirement party tonight.  I can't go, it's my night to take tickets at the high school volleyball game, darned it.  My hubby asked for a card, hope this works for him.  

The image is from Hambo Hoedown.  I think he fits the sentiment:  I am not lazy...  I'm a recovered workaholic! 

Hope you're having a crafty weekend!  I'll be back with more after the game or tomorrow.

SiskiyouSue

Pumpkin Love

Here I am again.  I couldn't wait to use some of the papers that arrived in the mail today. Aren't they great?  I love this cute witch!  She may easily be the cutest little witch I have ever seen.  Though I have several other cuties also...

I'm looking forward to making more Halloween cards.  I ordered two different pads.
Thanks for looking!
SiskiyouSue

Pumpkin Love by Torico
Sentiment from Halloween Puns by Joy's Life
6x6 paper pad "Haunted Manor" by doodlebug design inc.
colored with   markers

Challenges I'm entering with this card:
Simon Says Stamps
StampNDoodle
D.L.Art Thankful Thursday
 Lady Anne's Paper Crafts

Autumn

Hey!  Hope none of you were too shocked to see another post from me already. I'm trying to turn over a new leaf, lol.

Tonight I have a card that I have been working on for quite a while.  For some reason it just didn't come together.  I finally finished last night, after almost a month of trying to find some way to make it work.  Thank goodness for the wonderful inspiration I found on YOUR blogs!  Strange because I really like the image.  It reminds me of myself growing up.

 I used colored pencil on heavy watercolor paper.  I like the sky, but not the children.   Don't expect to use this paper again except on a background.  I do like how the sky turned out, however, and it was fun to do.

The leaf paper is from an older mat stack, which, unfortunately has no cover, so I don't know what it was.  I'm especially sorry about that, because this was the last of these beautiful papers.

 I am entering this card into the following challenges:
Make It Monday
Pinspirational Challenges
Tuesday Throwdown
Everyday Art Challenge
Crafty Sentiments
 Clear It Out Challenges
Can You Digi It 
CardCraftersCircle

Thank you for looking at my card.  Hope you are enjoying the Autumn, it's more beautiful here than usual!

SiskiyouSue

Fall Wedding

It is hard to realize that it is the last week of September already.   We are having glorious weather here, mostly blue skies, some winds, and bright golden air.  This is my favorite time of year, crisp and cool.  I love it.  Meanwhile, we have completed four and one-half weeks of school, which is one-eighth of the school year!  When you look at it like that it is completely amazing.

I am back to crafting again, thank goodness.  I really missed it but just couldn't get much done, don't know why.  From reading other blogs I know that this does happen sometimes.  Hope it won't hit again for a very long time!  Like, never... (My card does NOT have a strange bump on the left side.  That must have been something behind it, I didn't notice until now.  Oops!)

 

I have a wedding card to share today.  I keep forgetting to take pictures of my cards, so have missed the two others that I made last week, but I'm glad to share this one. I used a cut file by Bird but changed the sentiment in the center to a lovely rose instead.  While I cut the background out of white cardstock, the rose is cut from silver glitter paper, and both are backed with blue glitter paper.  The glitter paper is from American Crafts and cuts beautifully!  Inside is a decorative piece of the blue paper, but I didn't get a good picture of it.  (I'm hoping to get a new camera for my birthday!)



If you have a cutting machine and have not already connected with Bird's wonderful cut files, check them out.  I cannot tell you how wonderful they are.  I have really enjoyed using them.

I have to laugh at myself...  I was coloring digis last night when it suddenly dawned on me how funny I must look.  Here I sit, just turned 61 years old, and coloring those little digis.  I may have entered my second childhood already!  But that's okay because I am having fun.  

Wishing everyone a wonderful Autumn, relief from the hot, dry summer.

SiskiyouSue

Challenge Entered:  Make It Monday

Time flies!

Wow, I cannot believe that it is the end of August already!  I've been trying to get as much crafting time as possible, but that hasn't been much.  I have only one thing to share because I keep forgetting to take pictures.  I'm sorry...  I was asked to pick up flowers for a coworker who had surgery three times in the two weeks before school began (and has another scheduled next week, all for kidney stones).  Anyway, I needed a nicer card for the bouquet so I put together a tag type thing.

The digi is from Pollycraft, but I don't remember the name of it.  It's so cute!  And it was fun to color with my colored pencils.  I did a little coloring on the background also (scrumbling) in light blue to make them stand out, and added a couple of sprigs of evergreen needles.  They and the background shape were cut on my Silhouette SD.  The digi was popped up after I fussy cut it.  It really looked good in the bouquet.

Don't you just love the color of those dark carnations?

We have already had a week of school which I'm glad to report was great.  I had three uninterrupted teaching days, not a single student out of class even for sports.  Some of us are going to keep track of those absences ourselves this year because some students miss so much.  In a district as small as ours (72 high school students this year) a student may be involved in speech and drama, band, choir, jazz band, football, basketball, track and girls have volleyball.  Yes, many of our students are in multiples, which means they are very, very busy!

Today I have finally finished my Fat Pages for Lady Anne's Fat Page Swap.  I expected to put them in the mail a week ago, but it just didn't happen. I will try to post pictures in a couple of days.

Have a great end of the month.  I hope September brings a relief from not enough rain without bringing floods to you.  We have finished harvest here with mostly good weather and things are looking quite nice right now.

Hope you have plenty of time for crafting!

SiskiyouSue

I'm sharing this on Make It Monday.

Still Summer

Good morning.  It looks like another hot-but-beautiful day here in northern Montana.  We've had a lot of rain and hail recently (farmers are not happy about what it does to the crops), but generally it is at least still summer.  And I am driving a new car, nice to be on wheels again.  We are just too far from anything to be without.

I'm back into my craft room.  I had a great time yesterday playing with my Silhouette SD.  I bought the upgrade to the Designer's Edition software and have been busy importing SVG files into My Library.  I had no idea what some of them were before, but now I can actually see what I have!  I love it.

I decided that I should make some things for my classroom and the first thing I thought of was a new sign for my door.  The sign I've had until now was a piece of school letterhead with my name written under it in black marker.  Really ugly.  So here's what I came up with:

The mountain scene is from Paper This and That (a freebie) and the wheat sheaf is from the Silhouette Store.  I have used three colors of green, two colors of yellow, on Kraft paper, and my white Jelly Roll pen by Sakura to highlight the highest peaks of the mountains and to outline the letters.  In person they really pop.  Unfortunately I didn't think to photograph this until I had already laminated it (using my Your Story).  Anyway, in person it really does look far nicer than what I have had.  I think I'll enjoy having it on my door.

Back to the craft room today.  There is a lot going on this week, a trip into Canada to meet a new baby, a trip to Helena (197 miles one way) for a 15 minute doctor appointment, a wedding and a funeral this weekend.  I'll try to make the most out of the time I have left.  My first day back to School is August 20, which is three weeks from yesterday.  Summer is always too short!

Hope you have a lovely summer day!
SiskiyouSue

Wow!

Please accept my apology for being away from my blog for so long.  There has been a LOT going on here.  We were in California for a week.  I enjoyed a wonderful visit with my sister and her husband, then she took me north to visit our mom.  My husband and daughter (from Portland) met us there.  We had a lovely day with my mom who is in a nursing home.  She's doing much better than the last time I saw her.  They have a new kitten that Mom is in love with...

We headed home, leaving our daughter in Portland.  The whole trip went extremely well until 3 miles from home.  We hit a deer in the middle of the night, no injuries, but totaled the car!  Instead of several nice crafting days, we ran back and forth to the insurance agent and the body shop.  I still don't have a car, but it's getting closer!

 Then, after five days at home, we headed to Glacier Park where our daughter met us.  Our son came with us, so again, lots of family.  We also attended a 40th anniversary for a brother and sister-in-law so there was even more visiting then.  The only problem in that week was that we had hail that broke all 3 vents in our camper!  Not good.  The scenery is always great, however, and the weather cleared up so we had a great time.  This is the four of us in front of Lake McDonald at Apgar Village, one of the most photographed spots.  It makes a great spot for a photo like this. 

Home again.  The faucet in our bathroom fell apart, water everywhere.  I think I'll be glad when July is over.  But that's all fixed now, so I'm thinking that if (as my grandmother said) bad things come in threes, we're already done...  Hope so!  The two of us are heading to the mountains again this weekend, so we'll find out!!!

Back to crafting:  I just bought the Designer Edition of Silhouette Studio while it was 50% off so I'm playing around with SVGs in it.  Hope to have something to show off soon!  Meanwhile, this is something I made a while ago but haven't posted yet...

The sentiment is from TLC Creations, the gorgeous digi is from Sassy Studios (love all of them!) and the paper is a printable that was a freebie a long time ago.  I added some Stickles and some snowflake buttons (with the stuff on the back clipped off).  I'm working on more Christmas cards.  Hate to start already, but school starts here on August 20 (ick... way, way too early and hot), so I think I had better get moving.

Oh, one more thing!  I see that I have passed 150 followers!  I cannot imagine how that has happened, but I have to say that knowing that you are reading and looking makes this much, much more fun.  Thank you so much!  I'll be having a celebration after I get home again from this camping trip.  Meanwhile, hope you are getting some good crafting time in and still finding time to enjoy the sunny weather.  Remember that winter won't be far behind.  (I realize that is good news for all of you living in our drought-stricken areas.)

Happy summer!
SiskiyouSue

California, Here I Come!

Well, I'm off to visit my sister and mother for a few days, leaving in an hour and a half.    Can't believe how much I have left to do, but of course, my crafting is a priority, and I want to post my latest project.  Hate to have anyone think I haven't been doing anything!  Oh, after I return, I have just enough time to do laundry and pack the camper because we're heading to Glacier National Park to meet our daughter.  We'll enjoy seeing other family also as my husband's brother and his wife are celebrating their 40th wedding anniversary while we are there.  The kids are throwing a party.  Lucky for us!

I've been making popsicles!  Just like everyone else, but mine are way lower in calories...

 I used my Silhouette SD and the Pretty Pops cutting files from Lettering Delights.  Aren't they cute?

 Just had to include a close up of the ladybug.  Don't have any idea what she's doing on my popsicle, but she is cute!

 I love Stickles (if you've been following me long you know that I'm a Stickles-aholic).  I was hoping that this would give a frosty look?

 One more shot of the two, can't seem to decide which I like the most.  Guess I'll have to make one or two more of the 20 or so in the set.  They are really fun to work with.

Now, unrelated to this.  My blog title has been Lost in Montana and Loving It since I started blogging, so I really had to laugh when I caught an ad on tv the other day for Travel Montana, our official state invitation to the rest of you.  This is their big thing for 2012:

Get Lost exploring in Montana.

 So I'm doing my part, sharing the invitation with all of you.  Really we don't want everyone to stay forever.  Montana has (finally) reached 1,000,000 people, which is plenty, thank you!  But we love to show off.  If you have ever wanted to see our Big Sky (which is really wide and gorgeous) or the wide open spaces or the emptiness of the eastern part of the state or camping in my much-loved Glacier National Park, this would be a great year to visit.  

Have a great day, and I'll be seeing you on YOUR blogs as time permits.  Back in July...

SiskiyouSue 

Sassy Summer

Isn't this a cutie?  She came from CDAC and was drawn by Jen Leeflang of ABC-Art, Bellydancing & Crafting.  She's one of my all-time favorites.  She just seems so summery!!!  The flower paper comes from a DCWV mat stack, Citrus, the rest, including embellishments, are all from my stash.

I've had a lot of comments in the past several weeks.  Thanks to all of you!  It is lots of fun to share with others who make cards and I appreciate each of you.  I see that  somehow I have acquired 150 followers.  I will have to come up with some blog candy, but it will probably in July since I will be out of town for about 2 weeks.  Time to visit my sister, hurray!

I'm entering it in these challenges:
Always Crafting
Make It Monday

Thanks for visiting me, hope you enjoyed my card.
SiskiyouSue

Vacation at Sea

Not my kind of vacation, yet, anyway, but this crab from Bugaboo certainly seems happy!  The designer paper is from TLC and the subway art from SimpleCrafter.  All digital except for the ribbon.  This was another fun card.  I really love the blue and orange together!

I'm entering this card in the challenges listed below.

Thanks for visiting me.
SiskiyouSue

Challenges:
 Digital Tuesday
SkippingStonesDesign
PaperPretties
JustKeepOnCreating
InkyImpressions
DivasByDesign
C.R.A.F.T Challenge