More updates and a card

I hope you all had a wonderful 4th. We had a relaxing evening. The morning was spent painting again. Hopefully that job will be done this week before we head up to Wyoming for some fun.

In the evening we had a cook out with my parents and went to watch the fireworks. It was freezing, but we tried to enjoy it anyway.

Earlier in the day Duane noticed one of our cats acting strangly. He had discovered this mouse. Instead of killing it, he was playing with it. They both kept waving paws at each other and jumping around. It was funny. I'm impressed by this great picture that Duane got.

Now for the card. I have been watching the "Thinking Inking" videos being posted on the Two Peas in a Bucket website. I purchased some of the Tim Holtz masks from work and thought that I would give Jennifer's technique a try. They are small and self adhesive, perfect for a card. You stick the mask down, ink or paint on top of it and then peel it up again when you are done. It doesn't shift around on you so you get a really crisp image.

First I stamped the image that looks like wrought iron squares in brown. Then I laid down my mask in the corner. I then took my inking tool and inked on top of the whole thing with 3 colors of distress inks. I love the depth that all the inking gives. I really love the mask. It peeled right up and left a great crisp image.

Here is a close up of the portion that had the mask on it. I added the gems and layered the papers to the green piece. I stamped the sentiment and tied a piece of fiber on. I layered all of it onto the front of the card.

I am going to try the other two masks soon. They were a great deal for only $1.99, because they re-stick over and over. It was really easy to clean it off too.

One of the pics I took of the card won't load up for some reason. It showed that I decorated the envelope to match with some of the left over inked up paper. I hope you will all watch some of the classes on www.twopeasinabucket.com I'm getting a ton of great ideas on ways to use my stamps that I either forgot about, or haven't thought of before.

It's been another month?

What the heck people? Time is flying this summer allready. We have been having fun and keeping busy around here. The picture below is Sarah at a local park. We love going there to burn off the energy.
There has been a little bit of crafting going on too. Here is one of the father's day cards I made. I kept them simple, because I made them in a hurry. I did use some new stamps and a new ink pad that I got. I love the Tim Holtz distress inks. They soak into the paper and create a smooth look thta is hard to see here.

The cards were made in a hurry because we were getting ready to go to Montana when I made time to make them. We spent 5 days and 4 nights in Montana. We went to celebrate Duane's granmother's 90th birthday. We all enjoyed having time together away from work. The picture below is all the great grandkids singing happy birthday to Grandma GG. It was SO cute and she really enjoyed it.

Here is a pic of Duane and his cousin Trent standing with the cakes and Grandma.

The first weekend after we got back we started to paint our house. It was looking pretty faded and shabby. You can see below an "in progress" photo. The peak above the kids' bedroom windows is unfinished. The body of the house used to be more of an ivory color. I know it's hard to see in the pictures, but it's becomming a frappachino/pale mocha color. We can't wait for it to be done. It's tons of hard work, but worth it.

We are excited for the 4th and Duane having Friday off of work. We hope you all have a wonderful and safe Independence Day.