30 Days of Gratitude

30 Days of Gratitude, a photo by HikerCynthia on Flickr.

As if I needed yet another project (LOL!!!), I'm joining up with Cathy Zielske and friends for 30 Days of Thankful.

Me being me, I named mine 30 Days of Gratitude.

Cuz I'm a rebel like that. ;-)

The idea is to take a photo each day for the 30 days in November of something for which you are thankful...or in my case--grateful. Heh heh.

I'm doing just a bit of a twist on the project though. I'll be using a different verse from the Biblical book of Psalms that specifically mentions the words thanks, thankful, or gratitude. Oddly, I only found 29 verses, so I cheated just a bit and added a verse from the book of Colossians for a total of 30 verses.

The photo shows the album in progress. I've cut 8x8 pages from solid cardstock or from patterned paper from We R Memory Keepers' Harvest collection. I also grabbed the set of cards from the same collection made for Project Life--3x4 and 4x6 with some cute die cut cards too. It's all going in an SEI 8x8 album.

If you fancy playing along, head over to Cathy's blog for all the details!


And a Happy Halloween to you! I hope it's all treats and no tricks! =D


~Cynthia

A Face

A Face, a photo by HikerCynthia on Flickr.

Earlier this month I was sitting on the front porch, enjoying the sun, when this little guy hopped up on the stairs. I'd seen him and a few of his buddies on the sidewalk and under the bushes, but they usually hop away quickly.

Not this little guy.

Even though I stuck my camera right in his face, he remained calm.

And he posed.

First the full face, then several side views. Then it was a Toad in Action shot.

And all from a toad the size of a nickle.

Dude's got guts.


I cut a few inches off the top of some kraft cardstock, punched the stars out of it, then layered it on a patterned piece of paper.

I threw in some washi tape and thew on some stamps, and adhered a few enamel dots.

Then I added an in-your-face title for this in-your-face tiny toad! =D


Supplies:
Paper: KaiserCraft (75 Cents collection); Bazzill (kraft cardstock); unknown (stash paper)
Ink: Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Black Soot)
Stamp: Maya Road
ETC: Tim Holtz (Tissue Tape); Bella Blvd (Pickle Juice washi tape); Thickers (foam letters); My Mind's Eye (enamel dots); Martha Stewart (stars punch)


Ali Edwards is starting up her December Daily album over on her blog. I linked up my cover which I posted in July. Join in the fun!


~Cynthia

Halloween Card #2

Halloween Card #2, a photo by HikerCynthia on Flickr.

Here's the second Halloween card in my variations-on-a-theme design.

This time I die cut the pumpkin from black cardstock, so he looked more like a shadow. I also die cut the face pieces out of the pumpkin itself and not out of colored cardstock. That way the background shines through the face.

Spooky, eh?

I added a few die cut leaves and shaded the bottom of the card blank to give a bit of interest...or to cover up a mistake I made. I'm not saying which.

;-)


So we finally got our pumpkins carved yesterday evening. I started to cut the top off of mine and quickly realized my little pumpkin was past his prime....I could cut through it like butter. Not a good sign! Even now, his face is drooping a bit and his eyes look like he's about to fall asleep!! Ah well, he only needs to survive a few more days! Then into the compost heap he goes!! =D


Carry on creating!

~Cynthia

Happy Halloween!!

Happy Halloween!!, a photo by HikerCynthia on Flickr.

In the middle of addressing my Halloween cards, I realized I hadn't taken a photo of a single one! Gratefully, I had two cards to go, so here's the first.

All of the cards are variations on a theme: spooky sunset, bats, leaves, black cats and grinning Jack-o-lanterns! On the ones I had already sealed in envelopes, I also added a small section of fence for the cat to sit on.

I made the backgrounds by blending Distress Inks in yellow, orange, purple and black.

I die cut the leaves, cats, bats and pumpkins--adding small touches like glittery eyes on the cats or shading on the leaves.

Then I adhered everything and stamped my sentiment.

Easy peasy! =D


Are you all ready for Halloween? I still have to get my pumpkin carved!!


~Cynthia

Tumbleweeds

Tumbleweeds, a photo by HikerCynthia on Flickr.

Yes, I'm pretty sure these AREN'T tumbleweeds.

Whatever happened to tumbleweeds anyway? When I was in elementary school in Ohio, there were huge tumbleweeds that often tumbleweeded across the playground.

Ah, memories......

Ahem, so this page isn't really about tumbleweeds at all. I just thought the little seed thing-a-ma-dos looked rather like tumbleweeds in really close-up photos of them.

No? Just me?

Sorry.

Anyway, this was a fun page to make. I scribbled Picket Fence Distress Marker on a big ol' script stamp and stamped it straight down the page.

The effect is really kinda cool. It's ghostly, wispy and kind of faded.

Then I stamped a maple leaf stamp from Stampabilites in various Distress Ink colors all over a white piece of paper. Then I die cut Cuttlebug leaves from it.

I adhered the leaves roughly along the script stamp line.

The photos are on a 6x6 piece of Cosmo Cricket paper.

I added a few enamel dots, a few more leaves and called it a day!


Thanks for stopping by today! Have a wonderful weekend!!!


~Cynthia

Dewdrops

Dewdrops, a photo by HikerCynthia on Flickr.

Hey, all!! Just a quick zip-on-by today. It's already 4:30 in the afternoon and my To Do List doesn't seem to have much crossed off it yet! How is that possible?? LOL!!

Super fun, yet very simple page today.

I used a stencil and some Tim Holtz Distress Ink to randomly hit the background with some color. Then I sewed a super huge swirl. So.Fun.

I added the photos I took with my cell phone of large water droplets on plants outside my house.

Then I added some fun corrugated letters.

I took the page outside to photograph it and quickly discovered the fun corrugated letters don't like sticking to sewn, heavily textured and deeply inked up paper.

:-(

Not to worry.

I sewed the dang letters right to the page!!!

Take that, you fun corrugated letters! =D


And with that, I'm off to see what's happening to my never ending To Do List!


Stay crafty!!


~Cynthia

More Wildlife

More Wildlife, a photo by HikerCynthia on Flickr.

The other day I went out to grab the newspaper and my eye caught this tiny green lizard--an anole--playing hide 'n seek among the huge leaves of an elephant ear plant. She wasn't a good model--I had to shoot fast. ;-)

I'm also pretty sure all my neighbors were wondering why I was standing around with my head stuck in a plant.

Why? For these photos, of course! =D

I printed the photos wallet sized and kept all the embellishments and papers small. And left lots of 'white' space too. ;-)


Thanks for dropping by! Have a wonderful weekend!!


~Cynthia