Rainy overcast day perfect for crafting today. Just to show you I have actually been doing something besides complaining about cling wrap, here are my backgrounds from things I've done lately.

The middle green one has a cling line right down the middle and so far that is it for cling wrap! The other backgrounds of color had wrap on them but it didn't work. I have purchased spray starch and have three backgrounds drying with cling on them. We'll see. The blue and white one on the right is a Richard Garay embossing folder that is real hard plastic and I don't know how to emboss with it. I just stuck the paper in the folder and rubbed it with my hands.

The second picture of backgrounds are brushos and color burst and the ones on the right are made with inka gold. The two top ones and the botton yellow and orange are shaving cream backgrounds. So those will be made into cards either as backgrounds or die cuts. I do really like them but they aren't what I set out to do. The last picture is a goof up. I white embossed a flower and didn't realize it wasn't a filled in bloom but I added brushos anyway. Of course it didn't show up like it would have if it had been a solid image. Some days I work so hard and come up with so little. It is discouraging when that happens. BUT, when you make a fantastic card that you love it is all worth it. Be kind to one another.

For now the cling wrap has fled to the kitchen. I tried again after helpful hints from bloggers. I looked in the mirror and said "there are just some things you cannot do well" and moved on. Thank you all for your suggestions. I say "for now" as I will try this again. I will use different paper, spray starch and gesso or all three at once! I just can't let a piece of plastic defeat me. Never give up - just give it a rest.

In the meantime I did another tissue paper card. That I like. I smooshed distress ink on the tissue, used die cuts from Concord & 9th and stamped a sentiment from Impression Obsession. I am skidding in on the last day to enter this at http://casmixup.blogspot.ca/. I used tissue paper, die cuts and stamped. I am closing now as I was watching the race at the Brickyard that just started and they pulled the cars off the track because of a storm that is moving this way. Be kind to one another.

The heat is back with 100-110 heat advisories. It seems to be everywhere across the US so everyone stay safe. Stay in and craft. I did that yesterday and worked with Brushos and Color Burst. I made quite a few backgrounds but I don't think I like them. If I just barely tapped I didn't get a good coverage and if I tapped harder I got big splotches. If I misted lightly the powder didn't dissolve. If I misted more the colors all ran together. This morning since they have dried the paper is so stiff and hard. There must be something about this I don't know. I've watched the videos and it looks so easy. Any hints would be appreciated. I even messed up the metallics. I had to mist a little bit to get it moving and when I used it on the paper it just blended right in and doesn't look like I even added anything. I also tried the cling wrap technique and couldn't get the wrap to stick. I did that on four cards to no avail.

On the up side, I got to meet my grandson's girlfriend over the weekend. She lives and goes to college in another state so they take turns going back and forth to visit each other. She came here this weekend and she is just as sweet as can be and a perfect match for him. I haven't been able to meet her every time she's been here before so I was thrilled to finally get together.  They came to my house and then we went to visit with my granddaughter who works about 10 minutes from here. All in all it was a fun weekend. My granddaughter and I are going to dinner with a good friend of hers and her grandma this evening. That will be a nice evening. This is a card I made to send to his girlfriend. It is Lawn Fawn paper, a Simon Says Stamp scalloped die and the Yippee die is Waffle Flower. The little flower face is from Impression Obsession. Be kind to one another and stay cool.

Several days ago I found out that a dear friend and used to be neighbor has bile duct cancer. I am so sad to hear this and have been working on a card for two days. I have been wanting to try the tissue paper technique that some stampers are doing and this card was born. I used white tissue paper and spritzed it with Dylusions squeezed orange and Tattered Angels creme de chocolat ink sprays. When dry I glued it to a card panel and scrunched it up a bit. It tore a little but that's okay, it's very fragile. The  crock stamp is by Judith and  I used a little set of stamps from Rubber Stamp Tapestry. I colored the crock with Copics and stamped the flowers, leaves and grass. I stamped the sentiment from Simon Says and added the prayer die from them too. This card is definitely a labor of love. I am entering it into CAS Mix Up with stamping, tissue paper, coloring and die cutting with embossing. I don't know what I will use in gift bags now!  Be kind to one another.

http://casmixup.blogspot.ca/

We have a beautiful sunny weekend to enjoy here after storms rolled through. The grass is so green and the sun so bright - I love this kind of day. I'm happy you liked the dogs on my last post. They are so cute.  This is my alcohol ink card that I love how it came out. I used a technique that I learned from watching a video by Loll. It is the inks dropped on aluminum foil and the paper smooshed in it. She used Yupo and I used glossy but it worked just fine. The flower is Ragged Daisy by Poppy Stamps the I used a Spellbinder die to cut the opening.  I colored the daisy with Copics and stamped the sentiment with a Stampin Up stamp. I am entering the challenges below. The Paru challenge is new to me so I hope you can pop by and visit. Be kind to one another.

Challenges: http://addictedtostamps-challenge.blogspot.co.uk/  
http://www.happylittlestampers.com/2017/07/hls-anything-goes-with-dies-challenge.html


http://paruscardmakingchallenges.blogspot.com/2017/07/july-17-challenge.html

I am working on my alcohol ink card and will post it soon. In the meantime I want to show you this hilarious picture from the 4th. This is my DIL arranging the food on the bar for us and talk about a captive audience! All the dogs are watching her carefully with their tongues hanging out. We just cracked up. They have two labs, brown one and black one and of course, Molly. Just thought you might get a laugh out of this! Be kind to one another.

Happy 4th to all that celebrate today. It will be a hot one here with humidity. Molly and I are going to my son's for the afternoon. It will be nice seeing everyone.

I made another attempt at using the Floribunda die from Poppy Stamps for a birthday card for a sweet friend. I did not try to stack the petals this time. I made a template from cardstock cut with the die. I laid it over the black cardstock and inlaid the petals cut from SU sparkle paper. That worked much better and I didn't add anything other than the sentiment. The card base is pink and the sentiment is stamped on white cardstock and layered on pink. I'm very pleased with this card. Enjoy the day and be safe.

I am playing in  the http://poppystamps.typepad.com/poppystamps/challenge/