back to the drawing board

SWEET AS CAN BEE

i forgot to post this card several weeks ago when i created it for the may taylored expressions maker challenge. the theme back in may was to create a card using the masking technique. i die cut the hexagon honeycomb pattern from cardstock & used the negative pieces to create a mask. then i applied a good amount of ink to create the honeycomb design on the card base. to make the sweet bee i used a layering stencil which makes it super easy to apply the three colors of ink.

The Secret Life of Bees - have you read it or watched it? i have not yet seen the movie adaptation that came out several years ago but the book is one of my favorites. 

supplies
cardstock: [cherry pop, sugar cube] taylored expressions
patterned paper: [scraps]
accents: [enamel dots]
liquid accent: [clear wink of stella] zig
dye ink: [honey, lemon meringue, oreo, sea salt] taylored expressions
clear stamp: [what's the buzz] taylored expressions
rubber stamp & stencil combo: [the bee's knees] taylored expressions 
craft dies: [honeycomb cluster, sweet as can bee, the bee's knees] taylored expressions

this little robot thinks someone is seriously the best. the background for this paper pieced robot is a combination of inking & stamping. i die cut a heart from masking paper & then blended 3 colors of pink ink inside the cut out heart. after the ink was dry i stamped the lined heart & sentiment with black ink.

and the books shown are all on my valentine's tbr list - a deadly affair by agatha christie, plum lovin' by janet evanovich, up all night (13 stories between sunrise & sunset ) edited by laura silverman. 

supplies
cardstock: [bermuda] a muse studio, [solar white] neenah paper
patterned paper: [scraps]
embellishment: [bubblegum sprinkles enamel dots] doodlebug design, [yellow enamel dot] echo park paper
dye ink: [cupcake, strawberry milkshake, lollipop] tailored expressions, [intense black] hero arts, [onyx black versafine] tsukineko
clear stamps: [charge me up, love poems] lawn fawn
rubber stamps: [in my heart (retired)] taylored expressions
craft dies: [charge me up] lawn fawn, [stitched heart stacklets] taylored expressions
other: [masking paper] inkadinkado, [oreo envelope] tailored expressions

as i've done the past 2 years i'm keeping track of the books i've read by making these little 3x3 cards for my project life album. this year each month will get a single spread of 12 3x3 cards for books. i usually read about 6 books a month - so this gives me space to add in some extra bits as well.

my first book of 2018 was a long one - drums of autumn by diana gabaldon. i'm reading one book in the outlander series each year so that i don't get too far ahead of the tv show. the little cabin in the background is on fraser's ridge & the teepee represents the many native americans they met throughout the book.

supplies
patterned paper: [build a scene 6x6 paper pack] taylored expression, [s'more love 8x8 paper pad] cosmo cricket, [scraps]
craft dies: [snowy drifts fancy dies] hero arts, [mountain border] homey bee stamps, [build a scene - lakeside, grass borde] taylored expressions

i'm still working on my 2017 reading challenge & here's how i documented books 25-36. i finished book #36 way back in june but kind of got sidetracked with summer & forgot to post this. lots of good reads in this batch:

• Behold the Dreamers - a touching NYC immigrant story  - Oprah chose this for her book club & I'm excited to see this author speak - tonight actually!
• The Lightning Thief - why did I wait so long to read this one?
• The Widow Spy - a real life female spy story
• A Piece Of The World - Christina Baker Cline is awesome. i had the opportunity to see her speak twice - at two very different events - and it was one of the highlights of my summer.

a list of all the books i've read this year is over at my goodreads 2017 bookshelf.

this is a bit overdue - i think i finished up this set of 12 books about 5 weeks ago. a few of my favorites are highlighted above. my favorite book from this batch was news of the world by paulette jiles - i chose this book for the prompt 'a genre you don't normally read'. i also really, really enjoyed reading the girl you left behind by jojo moyes - it was for the prompt 'set in 2 time periods'. 

and my favorite 3x3 insert that i recently created was for a bustle book club read back in march - american street by ibi zoboi. i'm really glad i read this immigrant story & was then able to attend the book club meeting with the author at strand books.

a list of all the books i've read this year is over at my goodreads 2017 bookshelf.

i'm reading lots of books this year & here's how i'm documenting my progress. my goal is to read 60 books & i'm using the popsugar 2017 reading challenge prompts for 52 of the books. after i've read each book i'm making a little 3x3 layout to remind me of the book & which prompt it was for - and it's a good way to use up lots of my paper scraps! a list of all the books i've read this year is over at my goodreads 2017 bookshelf.