Sweet Chips Dress

I have had this Sweet Chips dress from Crafty Secrets sitting in my chipboard drawer for a looooong time. I'm trying to use some things I've already purchased. I don't even know the source for the paper but I used Tim Holtz Vintage Photo ink for all the inking and stamping and the SU Priceless stamp set. The poem on the inside is one I particularly like about childhood (from an adult's perspective). As a kid my favorite poem about childhood was The Children's Hour by Robert Louis Stevenson. Have a great weekend everyone and stay cool!

New Stamp Clubs Forming

The new SU catalogue will be out in August and I'd like to get six people interested in joining a monthly stamp club. It works like this: Each month you order $25 of SU products and with the new catty this will be easy! One month of the six, you are the hostess and guaranteed a $150 workshop and you collect the hostess benefits and free stamps. It's a great way to acquire some wonderful products and when it's your month to be hostess you can get outside orders to add to your total and make your workshop total even higher. Sound like fun? You bet.....contact me if you are interested!

Koh-I-Noor Woodless Pencils

Based on what I read on Gina K's blog, I bought myself some Koh-I-Noor Woodless Pencils. JoAnn's had them and with a coupon, the set of 24 was less than $8. While I still love my Prismacolor pencils, these are really nice. The colors are vibrant, creamy to apply, and easy to shade. This card is my first effort. The checked background is actually gold, as is the flower. I used 2 shades of yellow and black. The center is a rather flat black button which I highlighted with Black Diamonds Stickles. I'm really enthused about these pencils and you can't beat the performance and cost.

We finally got a break from our triple digit temperatures here due to a severe storm last evening. God is good. Just when we thought we couldn't stand another day, He sent us some relief. Stay cool and enjoy your day!

More Great Candy....Run, Run, Run!!!

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For Some Blog Candy!!!

Go here to visit Sharon's blog. Enjoy her work and pictures and enter to win some great blog candy! http://shari-anne-happycrafter.blogspot.com/2008/05/5000-visitors-blog-candy.html

Vintage....in 100 Degrees!!!

Here's a vintage tag I composed this week. I used several images from thousands I have stored on my hard drive, a little Tim Holtz Grungeboard key, some Primas, mother of pearl buttons and two stamps sets: Crafts Secrets Sew Special and See D's Victorian Dressmaker. A little stickles on the crown and a real needle stuck in the side....done! This was a fun little project.

It's 100 degrees here with no relief in site. Went down to get the mail and thought I'd die before I got back. Say an extra prayer for all those folks who dont have the benefit of air conditioning. I watered the garden well last night to try and stave off the inevitable wilting of the flowers and so far so good. Poor hydranges just bow their heads and curl their leaves in this heat!

PS BTW, pay no attention to the date on my pics. That feature on my camera is wonky!

Backyard Wildlife Habitat

We have had our yard certified by The National Wildlife Federation as Backyard Wildlife Habitat # 103,708! I know it doesn't mean much but I think it's kind of neat.

And finally.........

This is a close up of some of the fish and an eye level shot of the waterfall which my son Chris built. He did all the rock work for the pond. It's all slate from a quarry here not far from home. And all these pictures are courtesy of my talented daughter, Kathy.

More of the Pond

The black and white guy is Sampson, one of our Boston Terriers. He would stand out there staring at the fish all day if you let him. He's fixated! A nice hobby for a dog. We have a koi, comets, shubunkins, and gold fish and the plants are really taking off.

How Far We've Come in Just 2 Months!

This little guy is one of our resident frogs in the pond. He has friends, along with a gazillion tadpoles and tiny little frogs. They are SOOOO loud at night, you wouldn't believe it.

A Rose By Any Other Name......

My daughter took some photos in the garden this afternoon when she was visiting. Is she good with a camera or what? This is the most gorgeous yellow/peach rose bush. It's such a soft shade of yellow with just a hint of the peach. I am so glad she captured these before the Japanese beetles arrive and eat my roses to pieces. Only God could make something so breathtakingly beautiful. Enjoy! More to follow.............

Garden Colors

Well I did this card in colors I am seeing in the garden. Lots of pink and purple coming along out there now. Scabiosa, ageratum, impatiens, astilbe and the cool greens of Lady's Mantle, daylillies, and spirea. This is the Designer Print Real Red paper with Garden Green and Whisper White and I used the Priceless stamp set. I also used Frames with a Flourish and masked the frame to use the scrolly stamp on either end. With the Photo Corners punch I think the lines of the card turned out pretty good. Wherever you are, stay cool and enjoy the summer that's finally here.

A Hot Sticky Weekend!

We in Maryland are in for a hot sticky weekend. Maybe that's why I turned to cool colors today. This is Brocade Blue and Elegant Eggplant and I used the Wanted stamp set. Maybe what we "want" is air conditioning! Ours will be cranked up. Hope you are cool where you are and have a wonderful weekend!

Lovely Lilac Lanterns

Just had to try my hand at Jan Tinklenberg's Lantern technique which is nothing more than using a crimper on your stamped image but what a "pow" it packs! I tried both a vertical and horizontal orientation and for this stamp I think I like the vertical better. I wonder how the crimper would work on a background stamp??? I had the Fiskar's crimper for I bet 20 years. I used to use it to make little cardboard tree ornaments and I even crimped fabric for doll clothing with it. Now it's popular again for cards and papercrafting. See....don't throw out all the old stuff....because it will get popular the minute you do! Have a great evening!

Only Solid Colors

Only four solid colors of cardstock, two stamps, and some creative play with punches! I got the sentiment slightly crooked....I promise to do better next time! Enjoy!

It's Fall in June!

I used the Touch of Nature SU stamp set for this little autumn card. The acorn is a really sharp image. Would make a great border on a fall card!

Blog Candy Winner!!!

The winner of the blog candy is ...........cricketpe...........if you would please send me your mailing address I will see that this package gets out to you. Thanks to everyone for visiting and playing along. Let's do it again soon!

One More for Fall

This is similar to another card I posted a while back except this one uses all SU product, again for submission for a contest. Using the Fabulous Flowers and One of a Kind sets with a little chocolate chip and pumpkin pie ribbon layered. I again used the heat and stick on a q tip, heated it and applied the gold glitter. Fall is my favorite time of the year and over the summer you will see lots of cards and boxes and such with fall and Halloween themes. My favorite!

Another Fall Offering

I was thinking of apples in the fall and this layout came to mind. One green apple in all the red ones dictated the You are One of a Kind sentiment from that set. This would be a great teacher appreciate card.

Fall Cards

Here's a fall card I plan to enter into a contest. It uses all SU products and their Lovely as a tree stamp and s sentiment from thoroughly Thankful. I thought it needed some bling so I used a q tip to apply Heat and Stick powder, heated it and applied gold glitter to the trees. Click to enlarge to get the full effect.