THE ARTISTIC AVENUES ....

Saturday, July 5, 2025

Saturday July 5th

Happy July!! And, of course Happy Independence Day to America!

We have huge news and we have been super busy. We sold our house in ONE day. Yes, and we have to find a place, and close in 30 days. The stress is crazy! We lost one offer, so starting over......... Actually, it could be a blessing as the bathrooms in the one we made the offer on were not much bigger than the size of a closet. There wasn't a garage and yes, we need one desperately. We will see what happens this week.

Lets get started with my new addiction! It is the Seth
Apter dies. They are contemporary shapes and sizes, could look ethnic or pretty. Yes, they are versatile. Perfect for those masculine cards.

I just cut like a madwoman any and every scrap and more scraps. I spread them all over the kitchen counter and started arranging them in whatever pleasing pattern. Most of the bases are 6x6 black. The next layer is whatever big ugly paper (5 3/4 square) that got sprayed, stenciled and stamped. I did round the corners on a couple.

I love the oxide and the mica sprays!

This one has a purple shadow behind. Going for a softer look.

Thanks for looking

Mary

Monday, June 30, 2025

Monday June 30th

Happy Morning!! Had these ready to go last week and just didn't get to the computer to blog. These are Taylored Expressions "Snailed it". The are word stamps & dies, layered stencil & a background Snail stamp & die! Another set that I could have kept making.

Oops, below, the hello didn't get glued on. I fixed it!

I used the Honeybee stamps rainbow dies. It makes the perfectly shaped card. I last used it in 2022. Time flies!

Maybe just a 'thinking of you' on this one

These are like the Rainbows from 2022. I already had these cut so just added them! Feels nice to use older dies & stamps!

Thanks for looking!

Stay Cool

Mary

Thursday, June 12, 2025

Thursday June 12th

Couldn't quite finish yesterday, as I found two more cards that weren't done! So another day and more from Aall & create.

What I didn't mention yesterday was that alot of the images are from ephemera kits from Aall & Create

Splodazzer frame again

Skyline sniff (yesterdays photo) & ephemera. You would be amazed at how many images are in those packs. And don't forget the 'small talk' word strips from Tim Holtz.

Grumpy traveler (cat), Wacky woof (dog).

One of my favorite frames ever!

This is 'the ruff life'

Curious roofer. Climbing woods frame die.

The smaller (rolodex size) frame is Bubble talk & then it is all framed with the woodland window!

Have a couple more for another day!!

Thanks for looking!

Mary

Wednesday, June 11, 2025

Wednesday June 11th

Hello again! Just spent a half hour editing the next collection. Wanted to keep doing, and keep on making these cards, but the kitchen is a mess. It has been for days now as I have all the tools out here, along with the stamps and dies used in these cards. These are from Aall & Create. I will try to explain the stamps or digi stamps from Vera Lane, a designer. Along with a ton of dies! Get ready for some fun.

These are my first. This is the 'sunrise' die. It is rolladex size, so pretty small. The lil' gal is la dolce vita. she comes with a bird & flower. All big-eyed cutie pies. My first thought was to use them with the postal collage dies, but maybe later!

Same gal, Used the balloon pop die set

Glossy accents on the balloons!

Too fun. This is Frame mesh. Go to the website and check out the examples. I love the extras that come with the main dies.

All the above are digis. I think the garden gal is a stamp. Remember this is from two different web sites. I will list below. Frame is called climbing woods. It comes with a couple vehicle dies.