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Papers: Cougar 110# White and SU Poppy Parade CS
Dies: MFT Stitched Rectangle, Simon Says Sentiment Labels, and SU Stitched Shapes (Square)
Card #1
I used the same dies on both cards - My Favorite Things Stitched Rectangles and Paper Roses Stitched Circles.
I chose not to use any embellishments on either card, which is so unlike me, but it just seemed to work with these two cards.
I think it's amazing to see how one stamp looks so different depending on how it's used.
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I thoroughly enjoy this series because flowers are my favorite thing to color.
This month's Greenhouse Society stamp set is Lisianthus Flowers.
That is only because somewhere between my creating desk and my photo tent, I lost a rhinestone... and I didn't notice until the pictures were edited and uploaded.
I actually considered adding a rhinestone and taking more pictures, but decided against it. So, for now at least, please pretend that you see THREE rhinestones on my card.
Thanks for stopping by my blog today!
Papers: Cougar 110# White and SU Fresh Freesia CS and Paper Studio Black/White Diagonal Stripe DP
Dies: Elizabeth Craft Stitched Indented Rectangle and MFT Stitched Rectangle
Embellishments: Michael's Rhinestones
We take turns choosing the theme. This month it was Vickie's turn. In celebration of International Watercolor Month (who knew???), Vickie challenged us to create a card or project using a little or a lot of watercoloring.
I may have cheated.
Do Karin Markers count as watercolor? I mixed them with water and use a paint brush to color the flower on my card... so I'm hoping that is considered watercolor.... BUT, just in case, I used an actual watercolor paint to do the blue wash around the flower.
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Papers: Canson Coldpress Watercolor, Cougar 110# White and SU Balmy Blue CS and DP from my scrap file
Dies: MFT Stitched Rectangle, Paper Roses Hello Chunky Double Hello and Stampin' UP! Scalloped Contour
Embellishments: Recollections Rhinestones
I started a 50-week series in 2019 that I called Travel the World. Each week of the series I visited a randomly-selected country, sharing bits of information about that country. I then chose one tidbit of information about that week's country as inspiration for a card. As I explored those 50 countries in 2019, I knew I would continue on until I've visited every one of the 195 countries in the world, so I continued the series in 2020 and here I am in 2021, the third year of traveling the world.
This week's country is...
United States of America
There is no official language in the United States. The most commonly spoken language is English, followed by Spanish.
The Missouri River is the longest river in North America. The river derives from Montana, located at the base of the Rocky Mountains, and flows for approximately 2, 341 miles before it empties into the Mississippi River just north of St. Louis, Missouri. The Missouri River and the Mississippi River combine to create the 4th longest river system in the world.
Approximately 85% of Americans use the internet.
Statistically speaking, no job in the United States of America is more deadly than that of the president. Think about it: 45 men have held the title. Four of those men were assassinated in office (Abraham Lincoln, John F. Kennedy, James A. Garfield, and William McKinley), while four died of natural causes (William Henry Harrison, Zachary Taylor, Warren Harding, and Franklin Delano Roosevelt). That's a rate of almost 18 percent, or nearly 1 out of 5 who died on the job.
Abraham Lincoln was the tallest president the country has had.
President Lincoln, who was assassinated on April 14, 1865, had signed legislation to create the U.S. Secret Service hours before he headed to Ford's Theatre. However, the Secret Service wouldn't have saved Lincoln had it been created in time—the original purpose was to combat widespread currency counterfeiting. It wasn't until 1901 that its M.O. was to protect the president.
American's eat approximately 100 acres of pizza every single day. Annually, around 300 billion pizzas are sold in the good, 'ole U.S.A. Not only that, but a reported 93 percent of Americans have eaten pizza within the past month. The biggest spike in delivery sales of pizza occurs around the Super Bowl.
The average American throws away 4.4 pounds of trash daily.
Atlantic City has the world's longest boardwalk. Built in 1870, it was also the first boardwalk in the United States. Its purpose was to limit the amount of sand beach goers took with them into hotel lobbies as well as the train.
California's state animal doesn't exist in California. Before the mid-1800s, thousands of grizzly bears could be found across California—so much that the animal became the state's official animal. Nowadays, all of the grizzlies are gone.
Founded in 1636, Harvard was the first University in the United States.
Technically, a state's driver's license is not needed to compete in NASCAR. Even drivers who have had their actual driver licenses suspended for everything from reckless driving to DUIs were still able to race in NASCAR.
Alaska is the largest state in the United States, and was sold for a total of $7.2 million, which amounts to about 2 cents per acre. The state was purchased in 1867. In the 50 years that followed, America made their money back for the $7.2 million more than 100 times.
More people live in New York City than in forty of the United States.
The word Pennsylvania is misspelled on the Liberty Bell.
Lake Superior is the world's largest freshwater lake by surface area at 31,700 square miles, or roughly the size of Maine. It also holds 10 percent of the world's surface fresh water.
In fact, Lake Superior is so big, that its water could cover North and South America in their entirety with one foot of water.
The Empire State Building literally has its own zip code.
There's a town in Alaska that lives under one roof. The town of Whittier, Alaska, is an hour southeast of Anchorage. It's a small town of around 220 people and these 220 people all live under one roof, in one building.
There's a town in the United States with only one resident. Monowi, Nebraska's single resident is 83 years old. She is the city's mayor, librarian, and bartender. She pays taxes to herself, and considers people who reside 40 miles away to be her neighbors.
In Kentucky there are more bourbon barrels than people. Kentucky is the birthplace of the drink and crafts 95 percent of the world's bourbon supply.
The town of Centralia, Pennsylvania has been on fire for more than 55 years. In the late 1800s to the 1960s, it was a prosperous mining town. However, after a mine caught on fire in in 1962, the flames began to spread underground through the interconnecting tunnels. They haven't been able to put them out since and the town's population has drastically decreased.
The Library of Congress has 838 miles of bookshelves, consisting of more than 39 million books. The library receives some 15,000 items each working day. All together, these bookshelves are long enough to stretch from Houston to Chicago.
According to the National Association of Wheat Growers, an acre of Kansas wheat produces enough bread to feed nearly 9,000 people for one day. As well, the state produces enough wheat each year to bake 36 billion loaves of bread. That's enough to feed everyone in the world for about two weeks.
You can get a Unicorn hunting license in Michigan. It was developed as a PR stunt in 1971.
The United States experiences the highest rate of tornadoes of any country in the world. On an average, the country deals with more than 1000 tornadoes every year.
Alaska has the longest coastline of any state while Florida has the second longest.
In fact, Alaska has a longer coastline than all of the other 49 U.S. states put together.
The United States of America has the world’s largest air force. It was founded on September 18, 1947. The USAF with more than 5,369 military aircraft is the most technologically advanced air force in the world.
Yellowstone was the United States' first national park.
There are 182 places in the U.S. that have the word “Christmas” in their names.
New Jersey is home to the world's highest roller coaster.
Georgia is the birthplace of miniature golf.
San Francisco hardy has any cemeteries. In 1937, residents passed a law that said that cemeteries can no longer be built within city limits, simply because they considered their land to be too valuable. Today there are only three cemeteries within city limits.
Pensacola Florida is the oldest city in the United States. It was settled in 1559.
The official flag of the United States was designed by Robert G. Heft in 1958 while Heft was a junior in high school. Surprisingly, he only got a B- as a grade. Heft’s teacher, Stanley Pratt, promised his student he would raise his grade if the US Congress accepted his design.
More than 10% of Americans have worked or will work at McDonald's at some point in their lives.
The most visited museum in the United States is the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, which receives 9 million visitors annually. It is the second most visited museum in the world, after the Louvre.
The Pentagon is the largest office building in the world, boasting 17 miles of corridors and twice the space of the Empire State Building.
The largest amphitheater in the world can be found in Los Angeles. The Hollywood Bowl was opened in 1922 and can hold almost 18,000 people.
Hawaii is the only state that grows coffee commercially.
The United States incarcerates more people than any other country in the world. There are currently 2.2 million people in jail, or about 22% of the world's population of inmates.
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Paper: Cougar 110# White and SU Cinnamon Cider CS and DP from my scrap file
Dies: Gina Marie Stitch In & Out Cut Rectangle
Embellishments: Dragonfly Brad from an unknown vendor
Hmmmm...
That simple two-letter word was the jump-start to this card.
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Papers: Cougar 110# White, Recollections 110# Black, and SU Pineapple Punch CS and DP from my scrap file
Dies: Art Impressions Block Letters, MFT Stitched Rectangle, Paper Roses Stitched Circles, and Simon Says Sentiment Labels
Embellishment: Eyelet Outlet Enamel Heart
Oh... and I also love to color so I inked up this stamp just so I could color it and create a quick and easy card.
Stamp Set: Technique Tuesday Booted Tulips stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black Ink and colored with Copic Markers
Papers: Cougar 110# White and SU Calypso Coral CS
Dies: Catherine Pooler Diagonal Stripes Cover Plate and MFT Stitched Mini Scallop Rectangle
Embellishments: Recollections Enamel Dots
The Blue Knight rubber stamp set that I'm featuring today is Ellie the Elephant, which can be see in the Blue Knight Rubber Stamps online store - HERE. This is a two-stamp set, there is the super adorable image of Ellie the Elephant and the Happy Birthday Sentiment.
No, I didn't cut my stamp apart, though you could do that. Instead, I chose to cut the stamped sentiments.
Card #1
Card #2
For this card, I only used the word "Happy" from the stamp set, thinking it would be mover versatile, since it could be sent for any number of reasons, not just for a birthday.
I think it's amazing to see how one stamp looks so different depending on how it's used.
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Each month we each choose one stamp set from a pre-determined stamp company and make two cards using it. At least one thing has to be seen on both cards (color, embellishment, stamp, etc.). We post on a double-digit day each month, too - the 22nd. Today is the day!
In keeping with the challenge requirement of at least one thing being the same on both cards, I used the same flower from the stamp/die set, the same color of card base (SU Poppy Parade), and one of the same die sets (SU Scalloped Contour).
Card #1
Card #2
Be sure to check out Barb's blog, Kelly's blog, and Carol's blog to see their Double Duty posts, too.
Thank you for stopping by my blog today!
Not sure what Ready, Set, Go is? Well, it's a lot of fun! And a bit of creativity. And an extreme challenge theme.
Ready, Set, Go is an idea that Kelly came up with and she invited Barb and I to join her on the adventure. We take turns choosing the theme (this month it's Kelly's turn), but the idea is for it to be a bit more challenging than just the average theme.
Kelly's Challenge theme is...
Cut It Out!
Kelly told us that in her house growing up, her mom was "constantly telling my brother and I to knock it off or cut it out!" In keeping with that, she challenged the three of us to create a card or project with 'cutting it out!' as the main focus.
Oh, and because there are 3 of us and "we 3 like being 3", Kelly also instructed us to use at least 3 cuts on our cards.
Sooooo... I decided to just use dies (no stamps) to create my card. Probably not my best decision ever, but that's what I did. I used these three dies -
My Favorite Things Sending Big Hugs
Spellbinders Color Block Slices
My Favorite Things Stitched Rectangles
Be sure to check out Barb's blog and Kelly's blog to see what they did with this Ready Set Go theme!
Thanks for stopping by my blog today!
Papers: Real Red CS and DP from my scrap file
Dies: MFT Stitched Rectangle, MFT Sending Big Hugs, and Spellbinders Color Block Slices
Embellishments: Eyelet Outlet Enamel Hearts
I started a 50-week series in 2019 that I called Travel the World. Each week of the series I visited a randomly-selected country, sharing bits of information about that country. I then chose one tidbit of information about that week's country as inspiration for a card. As I explored those 50 countries in 2019, I knew I would continue on until I've visited every one of the 195 countries in the world, so I continued the series in 2020 and here I am in 2021, the third year of traveling the world.
This week's country is...
Mozambique
Mozambique is a poor country and one of the world’s least developed. In 2020, it was ranked ninth-lowest in the Human Development Index (HDI).
Mozambique is also among the world’s hungriest countries. In 2020, Mozambique was ranked as the fifth hungriest nation and classified as suffering from “serious” levels of hunger.
Portuguese is the official language of Mozambique, but there are more than 40 languages spoken in the country and the majority of Mozambicans speak more than one language.
The flag of Mozambique stands out. It shows an AK-47 rifle. The rifle symbolizes defence and vigilance. It is one of only two national flags that features a firearm, the other being Guatemala.
The country’s population is incredibly young. An estimated 45 percent of the population is under 15 years of age.
Mozambique grows cashew nuts, cotton, tea, sugarcane, corn, coconuts, fruits and potatoes; they also rear cattle and poultry and catch fish.
Mozambique is home to over 200 species of mammal, nearly 600 bird species and almost 6,000 plant species, of which 250 are believed to be endemic.
Mozambique is home to a wide range of wildlife, including elephants, manatees, lions, aardvarks, rhinoceros, hippopotamuses, giraffes, snakes, buffalos, crocodiles, leopards, bushbabies, monkeys, cheetahs, panthers and hyenas!
In 2013, the last rhinos in Mozambique were killed by poachers making them extinct in the country. Wildlife in Mozambique has long suffered from poachers with low-paid rangers open to corruption. Additionally, Mozambican poachers regularly cross into Kruger National Park in South Africa to kill rhinos.
Twenty-five percent of Lake Malawi, also known as Lake Nyasa, lies within Mozambique. Lake Malawi is the fourth-largest freshwater lake in the world by volume, the ninth-largest lake in the world by area and the third-largest and second-deepest lake in Africa.
Lake Malawi is sometimes referred to as “the calendar lake” dues to its dimensions: 365 miles long and 52 miles wide.
The lake is home to hundreds of fish species, nearly all endemic. Its importance for the study of evolution has been compared to that of the Galapagos Islands.
The 31 islands of the Quirimbas Archipelago are home to coral reefs and white sand beaches and are a popular honeymoon destination. In 2017, Lonely Planet named them among their “top 10 honeymoon islands”.
The country is home to some of the world’s best coral reefs. There are over 1,200 species of fish that have been identified in the coastal waters of Mozambique.
Mozambique has 1,535 miles of coastline.
Mozambique’s coastline is home to five of seven endangered species of sea turtles.
Mozambique has 147 airports/airstrips. However…only 22 of them have tarred runways!
If Scrabble allowed place names (proper nouns are not permitted), Mozambique would be worth 34 points – the highest score of any other one-word country. Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan share second place on 30.
Mozambique is also the only one-word country that includes all five vowels in its name.
Greetings in Mozambique are lengthy and involve inquiring into the health of each other’s family.
Thanks for stopping by my blog today!
Paper: Cougar 110# White, Fun Stampers Journey Summer Days, and Recollections Black CS
Dies: Frantic Stamper Stitched Waves and Rubbernecker Nested Rectangle Stitch
Embellishments: Recollections Rhinestones