Christmas Art LTCs

Distress Inks & Water

I like Distress Inks and trying new things so I bought a few Distress Oxides.  It took me a few tries to figure them out, but in the end I really like the look they give.

I used both Distress Ink and Oxides for this card.  It is called, "Primitive Creche" for Gypsy Fiddler's "Christmas/Holiday Art" LTC swap.

Distress Oxides & Water

I started off rubbing the inks on my craft mat, spraying them with water, smearing the card stock card thru, and let it dry.

Now for the Oxides.  I rubbed them on my craft mat, sprayed with water, smeared/daubed the card in the ink, and dry it with your drier.  Then you take the card and tap/rub it in a different area of the Oxides and dry it.  You may have to do this 2-3 times.  The drying is one thing I never do with the Distress Inks; I just let them sit.

Christmas Art: Primitive Creche

Once the cards were to a point that I liked, I sprinkled some water on them, let them set for a few seconds and patted with a paper towel to remove extra water.

I stamped my stamp, embossed it, and I rounded the corners with a punch.  I am really happy with how they turned out :)

Christmas Ornament Swap

Daper Snowman

I am back in the Christmas Ornament swap, hosted by Moose on the Loose.  I participated a few years ago and really liked it.

I carved my stamp and made the main part of my ornament over the summer.  I left the ribbon for later.  Next thing I knew the deadline was upon me.  I burned my finger prints off, hot gluing the ribbons on.  I think they look pretty good :)

Autumn Craft & Swap

This is my card for aMAZEing adventure frogs, "Autumn Craft & Swap" tracker.  It is called, "Blessed."

The paper was part of the prize that Lil Ewok won at the Ohio event.  Carving words scares me but I enjoyed making this stamp.

This card is pretty plain but I wanted to show off what I think is a shaving cream background.  The stamp image is embossed.  I have been doing a lot of embossing here lately :)

Painted Rock Postal

Painted Rock Postal: Shark Attack 

I am participating in Book Hoarder's Painted Rock Postal Ring.  Mine is called, "Shark Attack."  We were not required to make matching rocks but I had too.  I plan on putting it near the BOTM.  I probably made my stamp too big but I am excited and looking forward to seeing the others in the ring :)

O'Bannon Woods

About 4 weeks ago we went camping at O'Bannon Woods in south central Indiana.  We had never been here before and were looking to try something different.  I started this blog post a few weeks ago but something happened and it did not save :(  So, here we go again...



The park is a little farther than our usual haunts and we set up in the dark.  On Saturday, we walked down to the nature center, hay press, and village.  It is small but nice.  There are no letterboxes in this park!  We planted two boxes on the path on the way down.  So far, no finders. 

Saturday afternoon, we went over to Corydon.  This is Indiana's first capitol.  We did a walking tour and saw the sights.  There was a cool glass blowing shop,  old capital building, got ice cream, went to the Constitution Elm, and stepped inside the first pub that President William Henry Harrison owned for a while. 

At the park, 3 of us climbed the fire tower.  We found a geocache nearby and talked to a family exploring the area on horseback.

On Sunday, we went and found an old iron bridge that was no longer in use.  We hiked a trail around a wetland and got chiggers :(  The wetland trail was nice but at the end it disappears and we walked thru a clearing of tall grass.  We had our first experience with Beech Blight Aphids.  Which are really scary if you don't know what they are.

The caves in the area close after Labor Day and we missed out on those :(

The weather was great.  We found 0 boxes and planted 2.  I wish I would have taken some to plant in Corydon. 

Lil Ewok kept calling the place Abandoned Woods instead of O'Bannon Woods :D

Perfect Day in Ky

Madisonville

Yesterday my boxing buddy and I went on a boxing adventure in Kentucky.  We found all 17 boxes that we looked for <3

We found a box in Hanson and Madisonville.  Then we got a 7 box series in a small rural cemetery in Dawson Springs.  I think got poison ivy here.  Thankfully it is just a small line on my arm.

Next we got another set of 7 in a Hopkinsville cemetery.  We had lunch at Arby's while we were in the big city ;)

My boxing buddy, G-MA, said there was another box that we needed to get.  I pulled up Hopkinsville on my phone and didn't see anything.  So she pulled it up on her phone.  The box she was talking about was a box that I planted.  She was with me the first time I planted it.  It went missing and the next time we went to Hopkinsville I replaced it.  She was with me both times I planted it but for some reason she never stamped it.  So we stopped and she got it.  Technically I got 17 and she got 18.

Dawson Springs

The last box of the day was in Fearsville, Ky.  The clue was a rhyme and vague.  G-MA and I are both bad at this kind of thing and almost didn't go for it.  But it was still early and we gave it a try.  It was easier to find than we thought it would be.  G-MA was hoping there would be a sign in Fearsville so we could take a pic but the place was so small that there was no sign.

It was really hot but we found all the boxes we went for and a hitchhiker.  When we stopped to find my box we discovered that 2 other boxers from SW Indiana were also in the area on the same day.  Funny coincidence :)

Quiet, Soothing LTCs

Quiet, Soothing Moments:
Happy Camper

I am participating in Gypsy Fiddler (aka musicpals) "Quiet, Soothing Moments" LTC swap.  As you can see I picked a camping image for my card.  I am really happy with how they turned out even though the carve got mixed reviews around the house.  I posted a pic on Facebook and my friends liked it.  I always plant a box Mother's Day weekend when we are camping.  I may use this as my box for next year.