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Tuesday, September 16, 2008

hOWLoween Owly Tutorial and.. I'm a WHAT????

Okay - I'm getting my spunk back, and I'm SO excited about this card, which I shouldn't even say, cuz I'll totally jinx how much you like it. But right before I fall asleep every night I dream up all these great cards in the twilight time that I SWEAR to myself I'm going to remember, and of course I don't. EXCEPT FOR THIS CARD!! I thought to my sleepy self - "Sleepy Self - you need to fill up that tree with OWLS" - and I DID!!!!

This card uses 86,000 techniques - paper piecing, rock n roll, direct to stamp, etc. Grab a snack - there is some earth shattering news at the end of this OWLy tutorial.

So here's how it comes together. Stamp that awesome tree from Season of Friendship onto the Ghostly Greetings DSP with the orange circles on it. Punch it with the SUPER sassy 1.75" circle punch. Stamp the tree again on the olive stripey DSP from the same set in Basic Black. Adhere the punched circle to the tree on the olive so it lines up. Add highlights to the tree with your white gel pen.

Now for the fun part. Take the owl from Halloween Frights and ink him up in So Saffron, then Rock n Roll him in Chocolate Chip and stamp him on a scrap. Ink him in Olive and use a Really Rust Marker to color half of him for your second owl. Do the same with Creamy Caramel and Bravo Burgundy marker, and finally Summer Sun and a Pumpkin Pie marker. Stamp these all on Whisper White and cut them out, leaving a thin white border. Use the fine tip of your basic black marker to fill in this white border - it gives them kind of a shadow that I like. Stick them all over the tree with dimensionals - see how cool it is that they are sticking up?

Using your GOGO BOOTS SIZZLITS DIES, cut out my new favorite word - hOWLoween - from the prints pack DSP (hostess benefit), making sure to make the word OWL in a contrasting color. Remember - when you are using the letters in your Big Shot, the pattern you want to see goes face DOWN on the die.

Then, stick that down to your card, on top of the Basic grey DSP from Ghostly Greetings that you've torn to make the ground. Finally, stamp "Happy" from Occasions Collection in black on Whisper White and punch with your Boho Blossoms punch. Accent with your Pumpkin Pie marker and pop up with a dimensional. Finish with a Pumpkin Pie mat, and a Basic Grey card base with white gel pen dots to mimic the tree and the pattern on the ground.

Fun. I think I'll send it in for the next creative challenge.

Now a few notes before the big news. One - the HOWLoween Frights set is double mounted. Not that I know anyone who called DS and asked where the rest of their wood blocks were or anything. I have no knowledge of anything or anyone that ditzy. Or of anyone who, while she was on the PHONE with DS noticed what "she" calls the "Doppelganger Sheet" in the set - you know, the sheet in forty languages that is always English side down in your stamp set that tells you it's double mounted.

Nope - don't know of anything like that.

Well, I know you want to know the news, so put down your drinks and remain seated. We took the kitties to the vet for their vaccinations now that they are big enough (M-bat 2 lbs, Splotchy 2 lbs 8 oz) and Splotchy found out...


HE'S A SHE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes, he was just as surprised as we were.

As you can imagine, there is an identity crisis happening here. For those of you who live in Austin, you will appreciate that maybe the fact that the kitties were found on Congress should have been an indication that there might be gender issues with one or both of them, (stories of our famous Mayoral candidate at some point in the future) but I was CERTAIN Splotchy was a boy!! He's bigger, he's crazier... They were so teeny when they were rescued even the vet thought he was a he - we all missed that "he" was a tortie because they didn't have much fur.  I'm excited because I wanted two girls in the first place, and I'm super excited that I don't have to worry about inbred kittens before I get them spayed, but I'm pretty sure I'm going to be calling him "him" for the rest of her life! Anybody know a good kittie therapist?

Don't forget - the Zindorf workshop is this weekend. There are still a few spots in the Sunday morning class if you want to come. For anyone who is balking at the price, you would not believe all the supplies we are getting included with the class fee. I've never seen anything like it. I set all the tables up last night and I'm so pleased at how generous she was with what everyone will be going home with. And Lisa Itatani is an angel.

Have a good day - I started this post last night but it's actually 5:03 AM and I gotta go to work.

:) L8R

11 comments:

  1. I'm glad you're starting to feel better! I am so shocked to hear about poor Splotchy's identity crisis...you're right when you say you will probably always call her *him*...long story but we had similar kitty issues once a long time ago...even giving birth didn't stop poor Sooty from being called *him*!!
    BTW: The card is totally awesome....I so want that tree stamp, but I also want to be in Austin this weekend for Michelle's Brayer workshops and that's not gonna happen either!! Have a great time and tell her I said hi....LOL!

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  2. Great card. Thank God for dreams and visions of card designs, right?

    I wondered about Spotchy being call a him, because I don't think tortise kitties come in "hims" I think they only come in "hers" But that could be a misnomer also. Who knows? They're just darned cute!!

    barb

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  3. I just found your blog! I live in Georgetown and WANT to go to the Zindorf thingy this next weekend but lack o' funds are keeping me from doing it! Gotta make sure I don't go into pending at the end of Sept. KWIM? Your work is amazing! No, I'm not talking about American Light- I'm talking about your stamping and crafts! I'll continue on visiting often.

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  4. I love the card. Poor Splotchy, now he's a she! They are both so cute.

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  5. Your card is fantastic, Lydia!! I love everything about it!!

    Love your kitty story too!! Surprise!! Lol! Glad you are feeling better!

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  6. OK, Lydia. Now you are just starting to scare me with our "separated at birth" instances. I promise you this is a true story that can be backed up by many, many people.

    I had a darling little white cat that I got years ago when it was extremely small. It was so tiny that David and I bottle fed it for several weeks because the vet said she was only about 3 weeks old when she came to live with us. We named her Tiffany and loved her very much.

    Fast forward to a couple of months down the road when I take "her" to get "her" shots and the vet tells me she is a he. We called her Tiffany or Tiffy until the day she died, and told her daily that we accepted her for whatever she was and would love her no matter what.

    Love, love, love the card! Talk to you later!

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  7. the card is FABAMUNDO and the story about calling DS is HILARIOUS! i have a few extra blocks; want me to put them in the mail to you?

    i think splotchy can still be called splotchy, even though she's a girl. i feel splotchy sometimes, and if the moniker fits, who cares whose paw it's on!

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  8. Lydia,

    Ok, Tell Splotchy that I said "You go girl". I am loving those kittens, and what a good photographer you must be to have captured that photo at just the right moment. What a great halloween kitty splotchy would be!
    Glad to hear you are feeling better.

    Lisa

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  9. I looooooove the howloween card! I also love your blog in general as you can always make me laugh!
    So funny to read about your gender confused kitty! Reminds me of some kids I saw at the local University.
    I can't believe someone else knows about the GENIUS cards one dreams up in that almost-sleep state, and can never remember the next day!!!! What is your secret to remembering? I'm dreaming of card fame here!

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  10. LMAO! This was a hillarious post!
    I saw this card on SCS and followed the link. I love everything about it. I would not have thought of the owl and the tree together.
    I love hOWLloween. Very clever!
    You made me laugh with this post!
    I too wondered where the rest of my blocks were,. The stickers were so small, I thought "it looked much bigger in the mini" LOL!

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  11. Hi Lydia,

    I was trolling your archives and found this one with the kitty confusion. My little (okay not so little at 15 pounds but don't let her hear you say that...)feral Sandycat aka Wild Child could relate to this post. I got her at about 7 weeks from a fab vet who finds homes for ferals that no other shelter will take in. Free shots, Free spay, etc. for the first year! Amazing! Anyway when I got Sandy she was a he then over the next 6 months of shots and visits he slowly morphed into a she. First 1 tech thought he was a she then the next visit another one agreed with the she designation and so on (mind you the vets on staff also had the same percentage thing going :D) Finally by the time spaying was in order over 75% of staff and Doc's agreed he was a she and proceded accordingly. What threw everyone off was she has what look like little very prominent balls (she still does) and has behavior traits more common to he's than she's including the way she pee's- talk about a need for a kitty shrink! 8 years down the road the vets still laugh about how long it took everyone to figure it out! Needless to say Sandy is not amused!! Personally I find it funny because the vet clinic is a co-op of all women vets so I like to tease them that since there are no guys around they get a little confused on gender identification -either that or a lot of wishful thinking is going on.

    Hugs and blessings - Jean

    PS. Love the Card too. Very cool combo!

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