Mojo Sunk in the Pond

I think my mojo may have fallen out of my creative pocket into the pond. I simply cannot do anything I'm happy with. Times like this I feel like saying "bye, bye blog." Anyway, this little number is on Perfect Plum cardstock and the designer paper is so pretty. It's from Cloud Nine Designs and I got only one sheet, as it was pricey, at AC Moore. It has a sparkle to it that was hard to capture. The butterfly was embossed with Pearl Lustre Amythest by Stampendous. If you click to enlarge, I think you can get the sparkly paper better than the butterfly!! Anyway, the butterfly is from Gemstone Insects by Inkadinkadoo. The sentiment is from Bella Blossoms and I used the long rectangular Nestabilities. The corners of the DP were done with an EK Success corner punch. Ribbon is from Christmas believe it or not, Joann's I think. I hope I can do better next time.

Coming Down The Home Stretch

Here's a couple pictures of the pond as it nears completion. Side of the waterfall are almost done. That skinny scarecrow of a kid is my 34 year old son Chris, the mastermind of all this water wonderfulness! He's doing a great job don't you think?

Further Progress

I have to apologize for not posting any papercrafting things lately. I have just been tied up with this pond, but we are on the home stretch and hopefully things will get back to normal. WE HAVE WATER DOWN THE FALLS! Yeah! Now the rock will go on on the falls and when all that's done the plants and landscaping. Here's a few pictures to show you what my aching back and arms are already telling me!!! The picture of the blank area behind the pond in front of the hemlocks will be where most of the new plantings will go. Some ornamental grasses for sure but I haven't decided what else. I think maybe a large rhododendron behind the back of the pond because there is a purple plum tree there and it's a shady spot. A few other shots of the yard. Have a great weekend everyone. I will be back with more cards, etc....I promise!

Pond Progress

Don't forget: you can click on any picture to see it bigger!!
Here's a few shots I took around dinner time today. My son is a genius I swear! I know I'm bragging but he has done this whole pond with so much planning and thought and attention to detail. The rocks are looking wonderful and you can't see the liner at all at the edge. It's a special "professional" way of edging. The water comes right up over the bottom layer of rock covering the liner everywhere. It takes time but it looks so nice when it's done. I can't wait to start landscaping with plants and shrubs. Fish won't be transferred for probably another week or two, although the water has only needed pond salt. Otherwise ph and other parameters are really good. But boy am I tired. of hauling rocks around the back yard. Those suckers are much heavier than the slate we used on the old pond. I think eventually we will close the smaller pond and perhaps make a fountain there surrounded by flowers. I just love how this is turning out and I love my son for the wonderful job he is doing, while holding down a demanding full time job of his own I might add! Hope you all enjoy the pictures!

H

Woo Hoo....third post today! Don't expect this all the time!!!

Paper Tray Ink strikes again with Guidelines Two. Another Mother's Day gift. Not bad for my first effort. Background stamped in Pumpkin Pie and Really Rust and sentiment is one of our SU under $10 stamps stamped in RR. I used the new Nestabilities Labels Four die. I love the shape of this die. Michael's ribbon. Done!

Sweet Peas

Years ago, sweet peas were the most common garden flower. They give a kind of cottage feel to the garden and are rather rambling but very sweet, as their name says. This set is from Flourishes. I colored the flowers with Almost Amethyst and Lavender Lace and an aqua brush, direct from the lid of the ink pads. You just squeeze the pad while it is closed and that deposits enough ink on the lid to use as a palette. The sentiment was stamped in Lavender Lace. Flowers were stamped in Basic Gray on watercolor paper and the sentiment on Whisper White. I used Mellow Moss on the leaves. A little peek of Certainly Celery ribbon adds a bit of punch.

Happy Friday Everyone!

Here's a sweet little card from a set given to me for Mother's Day from PTI, Quilter's Sampler. I can't give you too many deets on this one except to say it is on Whisper White cardstock and I used the Cuttlebug dots embossing folder. I colored with a watercolor pencil called French Blue and the blender pens from SU. The double stitched ribbon is from Mike's. I used the square scalloped and long scalloped rectangles from Nestabilities and inked the sentiment with Bordering Blue. This set has so may possibilities and I just love PTI! Enjoy your weekend. I think we're going to be hauling rock for the pond. Ugh!

Garden and Pond Pictures

Here's a few pictures I took of the garden and the old pond which is right next to our deck. Not too many plants up in there yet but the koi and other fish did well over the winter. And a couple shots of the new pond in progress. Only the liner is in and it's filled. The bottom drain, skimmer, filter and pump are in. Next comes the rock around the edge and the waterfall at the narrow end. I'm dreading the rock. My son will pick it up at the garden center and they will forklift it onto a trailer for him but we will have to hand carry/wheelbarrow it from the driveway to the back of the yard. Yuck! But I'm really excited for him because he did such a wonderful job on it. Everything is level and looks good. When all is done, I get to landscape around it. That part I like. Hope you enjoy a look at our little slice of heaven.

Tea Time

One of the wonderful stamp sets my DD gave me for Mother's Day was Paper Tray's Two for Tea. I adore this set. I can see so many cards being made from these stamps, especially friendship and get well cards. I got the idea for this card from Debbie Olson but I changed some things. I wanted this to look rather old and vintage. I used K&Co. paper from ancestry.com over Really Rust card stock. Stamped the teapot and colored it with RR and Ruby Red. Smooshed TH Vintage Photo all over it and wiped it off with a baby wipe. The ribbon was a closeout I bought eons ago at AC Moore and I taped a tea bag inside the card. I think this would be great for a friend who loves tea (lucky all mine do!) or a get well card for a friend with the sniffles or flu. I hope you like it!

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy day to all the mothers out there. Hope you are enjoying your day and getting lots of pampering. My daughter gave me five new stamp sets for Mother's Day! I'm so excited............

Blog Hop of SU Papers!!!

Visit http://burninrubber-anotherstampblog.blogspot.com/ and join the blog hop and win some wonderful blog candy at the same time. Featuring SU papers, this blog hop showcases some wonderful cards.

Becky Roberts over at Inking Idaho www.inkingidaho.blogspot.com sells the tutorial for this wonderful Totally Awesome Tote. Her tutorials are wonderful, inexpensive, and give all the details you need to create one of these. This time I used To The Nines dp and stamps from Scene in a Garden and Pocket Silhouettes. The tote holds six cards and I like these unusual cards in a pocket! On the outside are various pockets. I filled mine with a post it note pad, pen, bookmarks, and chocolate. This tote could also hold candy, a gift, cosmetics, bath items, etc. Take a look at Becky's wonderful designs. She a very talented lady!

Parisian Breeze Has Me Spellbound!!!

I can't say enough about the heavier weight DP that Stampin' Up! has out now. This is Parisian Breeze and this paper is just so nice to make 3D objects because it is heavier weight. I just got my Sizzix matchbox die yesterday and made three of them today, then wrapped them with paper and used the Butterfly die on top with some Baja Breeze striped ribbon to dress it up. The brads are also SU. This is fast, fast to do believe it or not. The matchbox die uses no glue or tape on the box part and the slipcase uses only a short strip or two. Now what can we use this for?? Chocolate, jewelry, scrapbooking hardware, money, lip balm, small sizes of cosmetics, paper clips, rubber bands, and the list goes on and on. A very versatile die! You also get three little matching tags on this die as well. I'd love to order one for you. Just give me a buzz! Have a great day!

Blog candy!!

http://52flea.blogspot.com/2009/05/100th-post-give-back.html#comment-form Check out this site for a wonderful give-back give away!

Parisian Breeze Posies

These butterfly boxes are addicting let me tell you! This is my second one made from Parisian Breeze DP and Baja Breeze and Certainly Celery CS. Edges were sponged with Not Quite Navy. Hope you like it!

Daisy Scraps

This card was made from the scraps of another of the flower arrangements I am doing. I'll show that as soon as it's completed. This is my current favorite paper, Parisian Breeze DP on a Whisper White base. I used my new Labels 4 Nestabilities dies to cut the fancy background shapes. The flowers were from the Sizzix Little Leaves and the die is the original Sizzix Daisy, NOT the Daisy 2 that is in the current catalog. These petals are slightly different. It's an all occasion card. Edges were sponged in Antique Linen and Not Quite Navy.

Spring (Is Summer Ever Coming?) Posies

Was cruising SCS the other day and came across this charming butterfly box. The Wicked challenge was issued by Brenda Quintana who did a wonderful template for SU demos only on this box. I CASED this version from http://flowerbug.typepad.com/my_weblog/2009/05/butterfly-box.html. Shamefully used the same paper, etc but I used different leaves and instead of crimped paper filler I used green Spanish Moss. I am now working on another one in Parisian Breeze. If you have any questions about this, let me know. I think it turned out pretty nifty and it wasn't hard at all.

Manhattan Rose

This was a hard card to photograph and it's night time. What you see is what you get. This was an Almost Amethyst and Whisper White background on which I used a Martha edge punch. The rose was stamped with Brilliance Moonlight on watercolor paper then embossed with detail white EP. I used So Saffron direct from the pad with an aqua painter to add just a little color. Not one to leave well enough alone, I added some Antique Linen Distress Stickles just touched on with my little finger and Perfect Pearls to the outside edge. The leaves are a Sizzix die and I had no intention to add the little sentiment----until I smeared Perfect Pearls on that edge. So to "save" the card, I added the little oval with the words. I'm a great believer in saves.....I have to be!

Frustration! Aack!!

I think this is the third or fourth card I made this afternoon that I didn't throw in the trash can. Couldn't get a layout I liked, glue wouldn't stick, ribbon was wonky, stamp wouldn't give a good impression (that's the ones that went in the trash!) This one isn't half bad but I've decided I need to move on to another activity. This is Sahara Sand base, a Versamark Dazzle embossed layer and then the oval layers with Nesties, also stamped with Sahara Sand. Some Mike's ribbon and a prima flower with MS punched leaves. I think the flower is the only thing that looks right! Here's to better days!