Blue Beauty

Had to take a break from all the backbreaking spring yard chores and make a little something. This is another little origami box with a flower topper made from 2 sizes of SU circle punches. You just curl the petals slightly and glue to a small round or square piece of backing and then add an embellishment for the center.

OK guess it's back to the salt mines! I'll be sure to post pictures when all this drudgery is done! Stay well!

Where am I????

Just wanted to let you know I hadn't disappeared here lately! I've been tending to yard and home chores that needed attention.....mulching, the digging of a larger fish pond and painting the floor of our deck. I haven't forgotten all my readers and will be back with some new creations soon. As much as I love getting all these projects done, my fingers are itching for paper and ink!

Carousel Notes Purse....Shamefully Cased!

This is my version of Jan Tinklenberg's Carousel Notes Purse. I used mostly the same papers. I could never do as good a job as the most revered Miss Jan but hey Jan, you know what they say about flattery! This was made from two of the Carousel Notes chocolate brown envelopes, card stock, and the paper is SU Afternoon Tea. I LOVE this paper. It has such a soft country look to it. I used SU Live Your Dream stamps and a few others for sentiments and images. This was such fun to put together. I'm ready to do another. I'm hoping SU will bring these notes and cards out in other colors. They're wonderful!

This shows the right side with the carousel note with tab peeking out from the pocket of the envelope.

This shows the left hand side open.

Spring Beauty in My Garden

Fog and morning mist was just lifting yesterday when I went out onto my deck to take a few pictures. I love this purple plum tree. It stays in bloom for such a short time but is just the essence of spring. As the garden begins to bloom I'll be posting more pictures throughout the season. Next to stamping and sewing, I LOVE gardening.

Got my new SU punches and decided to give Lauren Meader's baby onesie cards a try. These are so adorable and could be used for shower invites, announcements, or gifts. One I stamped with SU So Many Scallops and the other I embossed with Cuttlebug's Swiss Dots embossing folder. Used white eyelets for the grommets.

Yesterday's Cards

Just a few quickie cards I worked on yesterday.

Gandhi's Quote

Praying for You

Wonderful Note Cards and Matching Box

This box is from Toy's Haven blog. It's very sturdy because it's made like one box inside another. The paper is So Saffron and Always Artichoke with K&Co. designer paper on the front. Matching note cards in SU paper. This was a fun project to do. Boxes really turn me on creatively.

Dahlia and Fall Flowers Designer Paper

Here's another one of the origami boxes from capture the moment's blog with a dahlia folded flower on top. I think the flower is too big for the box....better start with smaller circles next time. The paper is all SU Fall Flowers DP.

A Better Tool!

After doing the previous post I decided I could expand this a little and made the chart opposite. On this chart, from top to bottom we have Pastels with a blender pen, markers with a blender pen, markers direct to paper, colored pencils, and finally watercolors. I enjoyed doing this and hope it will be a helpful teaching tool!

Teaching Tool

This is a little teaching tool I made up yesterday. I used one of the strips from the current Hostess Set, A Little Bit of Happiness. I didn't like this set at first but it's really growing on me. Anyway, I colored it three ways....with pastels, markers and watercolors....using SU blender pens which I think are just the coolest thing. It was done on 140 lb. coldpress watercolor paper which makes such a difference in any coloring technique. It's just a little thing to show the difference in the different mediums.

Gatefold Card

I really like doing gatefold cards and I like the finished size. Smaller than regular but not really tiny. This one uses SU Afternoon Tea DP (I love this paper) and the One of A Kind stamp set, popped up with dimensionals.

One Of My Favorite Motifs--The Pineapple

This photo is a little dark, I apologize. For the background I used one of my new Cuttlebug folders and a great pineapple image from Inkadinkadoo I picked up years ago. I colored it with blender pens and SU pastels. To set the image, I used a spritz of fixative.

Another Box, Another Bow

I'm on a roll with these boxes. Here's another, same size as the last, made from SU Berry Bliss DP. This bow is smaller. I used 1.5" and 1" squares for the little cones. I actually think rolling the smaller ones was easier. Call me crazy!

Formal Black and White

I totally cased this card from Just Give Me Stamps blog when I wanted to use my new Frames With a Flourish set and came up with no ideas. My butterfly was an embellishment from K & Co. Otherwise the card is SU paper and stamps. It's hard to see but there is black grosgrain ribbon from top to bottom in the center and a narrow white through the middle horizontally.

Flower Pot Card

Sweet little flower pot card. I believe the paper is K & Co (not sure though). The green rim is stamped with A Little Bit of Happiness which is a current SU Hostess set. Colored with markers and a few stickles added for shine.

For the template and directions, go to

www.stampingpro.com and click on Idea Sheets on the left column. Then a page will come up with a list of templates and just click Flower Pot. Hope this is a help.

Say It With Flowers!

I found the template for this little card online. It's just a regular size card with the bottom front corners folded to meet in the center. Punch two holes in the flaps for the ribbon and then you can use the pocket that you made for a gift card or a small flat present of some kind. I filled the pocket with flowers. The small medallion on the front is from SU A True Friend. All papers are SU as well. Ribbon is Mike's.

2-5-7-10 Box

A sweet little 2-5-7-10 gift box in SU Brocade Blue paper stamped with Night of Navy using the Brocade Basics stamp. The little square on the front is Night of Navy and Whisper White and stamped with One of a Kind. I think these colors are so soft and pretty. Would make a great Mother's Day gift box.

River Rock ROCKS!

Here's one of Nicole Heady's boxes. I started with a 12 square of SU designer Paper in River Rock. It finishes to just under 4.5" square. Then I topped it with the topper made of 2 and 1.5 " squares folded into cones. For a change, I turned the little cones upside down. Gives a whole different effect. A couple small primas and a rhinestone in the center. It's a very sturdy box and so easy to make.

Hostess Box of Notecards

Today I did this little box that holds four matching notecards from SU Afternoon Tea papers which are a soft green and peach. I used the Tree For All Seasons stamp for the front of the box and Lots of Thoughts from the Sale A Bration catalogue. I didn't have matching ribbon so I made the belly band from coordinating paper! It's a beautiful sunny, albeit windy, day here in Maryland and all the spring bulbs are blooming as well as my purple plum tree! Gorgeous! Hope it's nice where you are!