Another Card on a Dare!

This card is for the SCS Dare Challenge that is going on today, and well all week actually. It was for the sketch challenge. I thought this stamp set was quite challenging to use for it-but it turned out fine. I used Daisy D DP, Mellow Moss, and Cranberry Crisp Cardstock. Mellow Moss, Artichoke, and Black Ink. The stamp set is Elegant Notes, and Linen Background Stamp, also the note is from Mini Medley. I like the sketch and would love to try it with some of my other stamps as well! I wish I had a one inch round punch though-that is next on my list! I cut this little red circle out by hand...

Dare to Get Dirty Challenge SCS

I call this card Toile Touch. Sharon Stamper issued this challenge to celebrate the third anniversary of the Dirty Dozen Gallery on SCS to make a card in a Toile style. There are four challenges a day all this week. This is the one I chose, I'd love to find time to do more of the challenges. You need to be a member of the Fan Club to participate. I love being in the Fan Club and have really enjoyed those cards every month! The card needed to be red/white or ivory, or black and white/ivory or blue and white/ivory. She had a few other color choices as well. I went traditional, but used ruby red and ivory instead of real red/white. I did a straightforward card, I almost decided to sponge, distress and wrinkle this up, but left it clean and pretty in the end, so it would be like a nice crisp toile sheet on a bed! I loved doing this one. Smiles...

Happy Joy Tent Topper Card

This card was made for the Splitcoaststampers.com Wednesday Sketch Challenge. It was to make a tent topper card. It is 4.25x4.25 with the top extending another inch. The top could be any shape, square, circle, oval or anything. I chose to do a simple one, I've never made one before. I loved making this, what a fun layout! I did four layers on the topper, with dimentionals between two of them, and the vanilla were stamped with the sanded background. The top on was then stamped with the sentiment, they were all distressed and sponged with mellow moss. I then wrapped it in the red hemp and mounted it on dimentionals. I then make the flower, rock and rolled the ruby red with chocolate chip marker, and cut it out and popped it up on a dimentional and a bit of Dotto on the stem. The base of the card is using Outlaw SU designer papers. I started with the striped layer, used the small punch to start the brads, and put those in. Then I put on the cranberry stitched ribbon. I stamped happy in ruby red and always artichoke on the twill tape and adhered it. Then I fastened the papers onto the artichoke card base. Then I inked up the paisly stamp with markers and stamped on vanilla. I cut it out and adhered it to ruby red CS, then cut that out and stuck it on with dimentionals. Then I mounted the topper onto the card, and walla, it was done. I fussed for a while with some large decorator brads, but finally decided it would do better without anything else. I'm really happy with the result and can't wait to try another tent topper card sometime!

Upside Down Tomato Update

Here are my upside down tomatoes! If you look closely you can see the green tomatoes on each plant. The big plant is a pear tomato, and the more spindly one is the cherry tomato. It has been interesting to watch them grow, they haven't developed a strong trunk like the plants out in the garden, but they seem to be further ahead in the tomato department. My Roma tomato in the bucket I didn't photograph, it is still very small and hasn't blossomed yet. In it's defense it has been very hot, and most people's tomatoes are not doing much. We've had like eight or ten days over 100 so far this month, unusual for us. They drop the blossoms if they get too hot, at least on my deck they stay much cooler than out in the hot sun. I thought they would not even get fruit, they don't get full sun on the deck, just gentle north light, but so far, so good! You can scroll back and look at them last month, they have grown quite a bit!

Lindsay's Wedding Cake

 

This is the cake Lindsay made for her wedding. I got to make the frosting, and buy all the stuff, she did most of the heavy lifting, wrapping and building. It took her several months to convince me that we could do it! There are actually four cakes, all three layer cakes, with different fillings. They were delicious, and yes we served them. I loved having the separate cakes, it was much simpler. We got the very cute stands at Costco for around 30 dollars, a lucky find. We found plate and tableware holders that matched them as well. The cake table had sparkly jeweled chiffon over lights, then the cakes, and had a light under the table as well, so it was all light up. You can't see that in this picture. The flowers on the cake matched her bouquet, and the bride'smaids had similar ones, and there were fresh flowers on every table. If you scroll down to July 2 (just go to the bottom of the blog and keep pressing older) you will see the cake that we made for Lindsay's friend. She made two cakes...the big wedding cake and then the groom's cake. Very fun, go check it out!

Love Birds

These our our Love Birds. When people see them they always ask me their names. I say, Coco and Loco. They say which one is which? I say, the one on the left is Loco. Then of course my Dad asks, what if I'm on the deck outside? Which one is Loco then? (the deck is on the opposite side of the cage outdoors) The one on the left Dad....
(the birds look exactly alike, and of course the one on the left is always Loco, of course)
I inherited the birds from my daughter. Her second year of college she was still living at home and going to the community college where she had a pretty good scholarship. But she was pretty tired of living at home. She was pretty bored, so she went and blew one whole paycheck on the cage, the toys and the birds. Gorgeous birds they are, but she forgot to ask us if it was OK. Once I saw them she talked me into it, they are very pretty. Skittish and afraid of people, too. They love it by the deck window, it is nice soft light and lots of trees and birds outside. There is a gold finch feeder and a bird feeder nearby, along with the flowers that attract the hummingbirds and they get lots of company on the other side of the window.. They are also noisy! They love to make all sorts of squawks and caws, it sounds just like an African Rain Forest sometimes in here!
Of course the next month my daughter moved away, and left me the birds!

Monochromatic, No Embellishment Challenge

This card was for the Friday Limited Supply Challenge today. The card needed to be monochromatic and have no embellishments...I forgot how much I like brads and ribbon, at least this card will mail well without any of that? I will have to resist the temptation to go back to it and "redo" it with that. It actually looks totally fine without the embellishments... This is the first time I've used Brocade Basics...it works up really fast, but the lines are so thick you really have to ink it up very well.

Kind Friend in Pink and Cocoa

 

I remade this card in pink and cocoa using the new Chocolate Taffeta Ribbon by SU! It isn't really chocolate, and it doesn't seem like taffeta to me either! But it is a pretty cocoa, and is very soft and silky...nice ribbon, the name is just not quite the thing! Used SU's Big Flowers, and the new All Holiday's, and SU DP, wasn't this one called Rebecca? I used a Sakura White Gel Pen for the dots. They helped the cocoa flower perk right up. Easy fun card to make.

Big Flower on Cerise Paper with All Holiday Stamp

This card was very fun to make. I love the Designer Paper and the how this turned out. It was fun to use the new SU Scallop Punch, I am sure I will be using it often in the future. It uses all SU products, I am planning to use it for a swap! I used Big Flowers, and All Holidays stamps, Cerise Paper, Very Vanilla CS, Real Read CS and red grosgrain ribbon. I used the old SU corner rounder with the guide taken off to do the scallops, and pierced below the scallops freehand.

New Stamp Set Illuminations

Here is a first try using the Illuminations Set. I chose the Hope Stamp, and dressed it up with Black and Black Stickles. I used the corner rounder on the layers, the Artichoke Marker on the image. Black and Artichoke SU Papers. I put the Stickles on the main part of the H and the Baroque Swirl. Next time I'm going for the embossing, but my cooler went out this afternoon, and I got very overheated, so I couldn't bring myself to pull out the embossing gun and heat some more.

Elegant Notes, New Stamps

My order from the new Stampin Up Catalog Came! I've spent some time today cutting new rubber! Here's my first card with Elegant Notes...looks like I'm the first to post a card with this Stamp Set on Splitcoaststampers too! Fun, fun! Well it's the second card, but the first was a stamp look alike, not the real stamp! Weird.
For this card I used a River Rock Base stamped with the new Sanded Background. Then it's layered in Chocolate Chip, then has an Old Olive strip down the left that is covered in River Rock stamped with the music script stamp. Under that is a cream layer stamped with Baroque Motifs swirl then the New Theatre's Old Olive wide Grosgrain covers the bottom of that. Over that is a Chocolate grosgrain then a River Rock with the Chocolate Chip Script and a Cream Thank You over that. Also there is two Antique Hodgepodge hardware brads on the left. Everything is sponged with chocolate chip and river rock and the edges distressed. Popped up on dimentionals is the layers of chocolate chip scalloped punches (two layered together) then a River Rock Scallop over that, I used the Marvy Punch. I wish I had the size just bigger as well, but the double layer under worked for me. Yay, first card with the new catalog stamps...off to do another! :)

Kitten Update

The kittens home has been found. The momma cat had brought them down the street to escape the neighbors dog. The kittens were born two houses up the street...and momma cat was fleeing the new dog they recently got. They have since sold the new dog, and came by yesterday to collect the kittens. Not an easy task. Took us about four tries, but we got all of the kittens back to their old home. I have a few lovely deep scratches on my wrist, but they are feeling better today. This neighbor has many children, who love the kittens, and so the children are very happy. We had many discussions about not chasing the kittens, you won't catch them by chasing them, but I ended up sending the children back home with only one kitty the first time they came to collect their kittens. :) Their mom came by later and collected three more. Finally the skittish ones made an appearance and I walked them home, but one got anxious and scratched me good, and the other little kitty I was carrying. I was brave and didn't drop them but shifted my grip to the scruff of the neck and she went limp, like all little darling kitties do! Her bright light blue eyes glared at me and turned a deep navy blue as I finished carrying her home!
We noticed mama cat back here this morning, I can only hope the kitties family keeps them behind closed doors until they get them given away, I won't soon go through the hours it took to collect all the kittens again, they love our woodpile with all the many places to hide! Mamma Cat likes my husband, she goes out of her way to seek him out...he likes to give her milk! (softy) He knows he is NOT supposed too, and hopefully now he will refrain so the kittens don't make a reappearance!

Kittens...WOW!

 
We had no idea this cat had taken up residence in our backyard. I had noticed her around, and trying for the dog food in the garage, but she has stayed totally hidden until this week. I can't believe she hid these kitties right under our noses! We take the dog out daily, we are always in the yard, but she is a wiley momma cat, and taught her babies to stay hidden! The dog finally did sniff one out, and up the lilac bush. My dh brought it to me...and put out the milk to see what else was hiding in the bushes. Look what came..... we have no idea what we are going to do...