Rounded Squares with Banner

I made this card to meet a challenge which closed before I finished my card.  Missed the deadline.

I started with a deep warm green card.  I added a strip of the decorative card stock down the center of the card.  I created the square accent with 4 rounded squares made up of 1.25" decorative ones adhered to the 1.5" solid blue green ones.  These were then adhered to a piece of deep orange card stock 3.25" square. I created the banner from the same orange card stock and flagged the ends with the Stampin Up Banner Triple Punch.  I added a SU Word Window greeting in the middle of the banner. The greeting was adhered to the middle of the square accent with 3D foam tape.

A non traditional colored Christmas card.

Submitting to Christmas Card Challenge - Anything Goes

Gate Fold Card - Rounded Squares

I just love this decorative card stock I used for Card Club here.

I punched squares 1.5" and 1.25". The smaller from the patterned and larger from the blue green solid and corner rounded 2 opposite corners.  I created a gate fold card which brings the 2 side flaps to meet in the middle of the card.  I adhered the decorative one over the solid one for each of the four with it aligned to one corner.  I placed  close corners all to the center of the element on either side of the split. I created the greeting accent with a strip of decorative card stock with the corners rounded then a banner from the solid and a Stampin Up Word Window greeting adhered onto the banner.  The banner is adhered with 3D foam tape.  The greeting was then adhered to the left hand side flap which goes across the card nicely when it is folded flat.  You can see in the smaller picture the card opened.  This will be headed out to one of my card exchange friends.

I'm submitting it to the Cute Card Thursday Challenge - More than one fold.

Macro Monday 2 - Beech Leaf

This is an American Beech tree leaf.  I took the picture when the leaf is back lit by the sun.  It helps to show the structure of the leaf.  It has saw tooth edges.

I'm submitting it to
Macro Monday2

Card Club - May - Nautical Father's Day

I trimmed the cards to 3.75 x 5.00 inches.  I chose a blue card which coordinated with one of the colors in the decorative card stock.  I color printed the greetings in navy on white and punched them out with the Stampin Up Decorative Label punch. I then punched another label from navy card stock.  It was cut in half cross wise.  I trimmed the points from the center cut then adhered the navy halves to the back of the greeting offsetting them on the right and left hand sides.  This greeting accent is adhered to the card front with 3D foam tape aligned on the line of chain on the decorative layer.

The alternative is to cut your label lengthwise and offsetting them top and bottom instead.

I could have placed my label horizontally  across the navy stripes and make the orientation landscape wide instead of portrait tall.

Card Club - May - Daisy

I cut my decorative card stock to 3.75" x 5" and punched the corners with a corner rounder.  I chose several colors of card stock for these card kits.  This one is a warm dark green.  I placed a piece of orange grosgrain ribbon across the bottom 1/3 of the decorative piece.  I taped the ends to the back. This layer was then adhered to the card front. I punched the daisies with a large punch from coordinating aqua card stock. The white is just the back side of the aqua card stock. The daisy accent is adhered over the ribbon.  The white pearl button is adhered to the flower with a Zot. The colors of card in the kits are aqua and orange along with this dark green.

This card has the orange card base with a coordinating orange button in the middle of the flower.  I've decided to use in the tall portrait orientation as well.  Great versatility.

Card Club - May - Layered Squares

This card features layered squares.  I punched the squares with a Creative Memories 1 1/4 & 1 1/2 inch Double Square Paper Punch, which makes even borders really easy.  The smaller one is cut from the decorative card stock and the larger one from coordinating red paper. The patterned square was adhered onto the larger solid red square leaving an even border.  I created the taupe parchment layer with the square and greeting printed in navy.  This layer is adhered to the kraft card front.  I adhered four squares into the printed square.  I adhered a fifth square place on the diagonal in the center of the 4 squares. This one is adhered with 3D foam tape.  I flagged both ends of a half inch strip of the decorative card stock and adhered it below the greeting.  This makes a cool masculine card.

Card Club - May - Prima Flowers

Another card club class today.

This card features 2 Prima handmade paper flowers along with 2 silk flowers in the main element.  The card color matches the largest flower's color.  In this case, pink and the other aqua.  The white card stock layer was cut to 4" x 5.25" and embossed with the Craft Concepts Whisper folder.  I placed the flower embossed border in the bottom 1/3 of the layer. This was then adhered to the card front.  Placing the largest flower onto the top part of the embossed layer I used a push pin to create a hole for the brad in the center of the flower cluster.  Placing the smallest to the largest flowers onto the white brad I then placed the prongs through the hole I just made and spread the prong apart on the inside of the card.  Blue and purple cards are included in the class kits.

Friday's Hunt 1.20

I took these shots for the challenge of Friday's Hunt.

The prompts are:
Starts with T
Favorite
Evening

This is a plate of Three potato pancakes for lunch.  I added a dab of sour cream on each pancake topped with a bit of cilantro.  A side of kimchi for a bit of great flavor.

My favorite is a blue iris blooming in one of the flower beds on my walk this morning.  Love the yellow in the centre and the fuzzy on the petal on the right.

The lamp post outside whose lights are on once the sun has set.   I guess there is a trio of lights in this photo as well.

Submitting to Friday's Hunt 1.20 hosted by Teresa at Eden Hills.

Share Your Cup #197

These are the Gerber Daisies I gave my Mom for Mother's Day.  We had a good weekend with a good visit with one of my sisters and her kids. 


I usually give her tulips but they were not very nice this year.  I chose these Gerber Daisies instead.  With Mom clearing things out she only had a large vase in which these flowers look a little lost.  I'm sure she will enjoy them. 

This is a grape hyacinth blooming in one of the plots at the Community Garden.  There were very nice tulips there. 

This is a vintage clock which was in our house as we grew up.  It has a few chips on the roof and the birds have lost their rhinestone eyes.  It has some great color with a red roof and white side boards. It's a nice size. 

I've started making Chocolate Bran Muffins again.  I need a healthy snack that can replace some of the sweet things I've been eating.

This was a plant at the community garden.  It has this central whitish cluster.  I'm not sure if it will become flowers.  Maybe.


Linking with Sharing Your Cup #197 hosted by Carol at Art and Sand.

Macro Photo Challenge - Pencil Crayons

I took this photo of pencil crayons against a coloring book page.  I chose sunflowers of course.  I placed the focus on the yellow pencil.  I'm happy with how it turned out.  With the craze of adult coloring books many people are trying to recapture the calm of focusing your attention.

Submitted to

Macro Monday 2

Flicker - Macro Mondays - "When I was a Child"  I spent hours putting crayon pencil to coloring book pages. Time with peace and quiet.

Wedding Anniversary

I made this card for my Mom & Dad who will celebrate their 62nd wedding anniversary this week. 

I chose a Stampin Up Pool Party card.  I printed the greeting from Teeny Tiny Wishes onto the card front in Lost Lagoon.  I cut the largest of the Spellbinder Heart Circles Nestabilities from a piece of shiny card stock in a similar color as Pool Party.  I pulled a piece of narrow white satin ribbon through the holes around the circle.  I cut a smooth circle with a Spellbinders Smooth Circles Nestabilities which measured 3" in diameter from no shed silver glitter.  This was adhered in the centre of the heart circle.  I punched two SU Sweetheart punchies from the same card stock. These were adhered offset from each other in the centre of the silver circle.  The whole accent was adhered to the card front with 3D foam tape.

Friday's Hunt 1.19

I'm submitting photo's to Friday's Hunt which is a challenge hosted by Teresa at Eden Hills.  The prompts this week are:
1. Starts with S
2. Week's Favorite
3. smile

I've brought out the sewing machine.  I am working on a project which I will post once it's complete.  I have fabric, twill tape, and thread in the assorted colors.  The plan is has not come together yet.

My favorite shot this week are this pair of geese swimming and toddling in the pool at the park.  The water is just a few inches deep so every once in a while they would stand and were in water only half way up their legs.  With the warm temperatures here and the severe lack of rain it's been a blessing to the animals that the city filled this pool.

Here's the pot of herbs I received at the Welcome to my Kitchen hosted at my house in April.  It is cilantro and I'm not sure what it's supposed to look like but it has grown some since I received it.  It has new different looking leaves which I take as a good sign. Here's a photo of the mature plant. That makes me smile because I don't really have much of a green thumb so to have be still green is great.

You can check out what it looked like a month ago in this posting.

Share Your Cup

I found this Sunkist set of yellow items on thrift store visit this week.  It fits in my decor for the kitchen and I can now sent to the non matching stuff back to the second store.

It's that time of year with sand paper eyes if I don't keep up with the meds.

I was on an errand to the fabric store.
I found this navy botanical print and a watercolor yellow fabric which may be paired on a project for the kitchen.  More about that later.  My Mom and several sisters are great seamstresses and quilters. I'm not much for sewing but the store was was full of very nice fabrics.

The pink blossoms are just starting this week.  They are so beautiful.  I caught 3 in different stages of opening in this photo.


Supper was fresh cut veggies, a bit of kimchi, some whole brown rice crackers and a small dish of home made avocado dip.  Very good.

Posting with Sharing your Cup #196  hosted by Carol at Art & Sand.

Forest Fire Disaster

Our province is experiencing a major disaster.  A massive forest fire forces the evacuation of the 80,000 residents from the northern city of Fort McMurray. Some homes and businesses are lost but no loss of life.  Thank God.  It's not over yet.
Our thoughts and prayers are with all those affected.
A big thank you to those who run into these situations while residents flee, the fire fighters and police officers. There are municipal leaders and those who will provide support to the fighting of the flames until it's out.  I've just taken a couple of pics from the internet. 

B&W Wed - Tree against Skyline

I took this photo standing on the far side of the bridge.
The tree seemed a skeleton against the sky.  It showed to no signs of developing leaves this year. 
The skyline is just a highlight of geometric shapes contrasted against the organic shape of the tree.
The sky is overcast and moody.

Sharing at Black & White Wednesday.

Macro Monday 2 - Blossoms

I found several blossoms on my walks this week. The lilacs are just starting open up. It seems early for them to be blooming.  I did not detect their fragrance so I will have to check back later.










This is a white Zinnia on a wreath placed at the Grant Notley Park’s Broken Families Obelisk during a memorial service for the annual Day of Mourning held April 28th.

This is an bud of a flower I found on my walk the other day.  There was one partially open.  After doing some research I think it is a Clematis.

The community garden has a plot with these tulips and daffodils in full bloom. It was a real delight to see them.

Sharing these at Macro Monday 2.

Mother's Day Card Challenge - Vote for your favorite

I made this card for the Mother's Day Card Challenge at Paper Garden.  They are a Canadian company. You can check them and their products by following the link above.

I started with their Aura Haviland Blue Linen card stock.  I then cut the Spellbinder A2 Ribbon Threader die from their Esse Pearlized White card stock.  The designer paper layer is from the Recollections series from Michaels.  I cut the piece 3 1/8 inches x 3 3/8 inches and adhered it above the slits in the die cut.  I then selected a green seam binding ribbon which coordinated with the green in the designer paper.  I wrapped it around the back of the diecut and pulled it through the ribbon threader slots till they met in the middle then I tied it into a nice bow.  I trimmed the ends at a slant with scissors.   The greeting was designed with a small oval frame Label 2 from the Stampin Up Noteworthy Labels stamp set in Certainly Celery.  The greeting is from Teeny Tiny Wishes Stamp Set.  This was put onto another piece of the Pearlized White card stock and trimmed by hand.  I distressed the edges and adhered it above the bow with 3D foam tape. The full threader layer was then adhered to the blue card front.    I cut a blue flower from the scrap of designer paper and adhered it in the top right hand corner of the card with 3D foam tape.

Check out the all the cards and vote for your favorite.

Here's a scan of the several sheets of card stock that Paper Garden sent me to make a card for their challenge.  My mom's favorite color is blue so I chose the blue linen and white pearl paper. I will be able to make several more cards with rest.  Thanks Tiffany for the card stock.

The Winners are listed here.

Snowflakes On Red

I started with a Stampin Up Real Red card. Once I determined I where I needed lines I scored them at the top and bottom on my MS score tool.  I cut the snowflakes from Whisper White with the Snow Flurry Bigz die.  I placed my snowflakes in between the lines I had scored and adhered them to the card front.  I stamped the greeting and embossed it with white embossing powder.  The greeting is from the Sweet Essentials stamp set.  I cut narrow strips of gold glitter card stock and placed those along the embossed lines at the top and bottom.  I repeated the gold by adding a punched circle of gold glitter in the center of the largest snowflake.

I'm joining the following challenges.

SU TGIF - Pick Your Fave - TGIF50 Sketch
52 Christmas Card Throwdown - Previous Theme - Theme Challenge #4 -Snowflakes - April 2012
Christmas Card Challenges - Inspiration Photo 

Christmas Card Challenge - May - Red / Sleigh

It's time for a Christmas card.  The challenge was red / sleigh.  I decided I did not want to go with the traditional Santa Sleigh. 

After doing an internet search I decided on a vintage Christmas card.  I downloaded a few and finally decided on this one.  It's a bit retro with a red sleigh filled with brightly wrapped gifts and a skinny tree in the back there.  The colors are red, true blue, silver grey and white.  I sized the image to the ratio I wanted and printed 4 per half sheet.  I layered it onto a true blue from the Nautical collection leaving a narrow border.  I then layered it onto a piece of red again leaving a narrow border. I printed the red greeting onto a grey card in the bottom right hand corner.  I added a silver satin ribbon on the left hand side and taped the ends to the inside of the card.  I adhered the sleigh accent to to the top left hand corner with 3D foam tape. 

Friday Hunt 1.18

I took some shots on my walk this morning with Friday Hunt in mind.  The prompts are

Starts with R

Favorite

Texture

This is a Ram on the front of a really nice blue Dodge truck.  I love the silver and blue contrast and the graphic quality of the image.
I'm glad it's pretty clean but I have to admit I didn't check closely before I took the shot.

There were several pigeons on my walk but this one stood still long enough for me to get a good shot of it.  I love the way the eye stands out with it's orange coloring.

I love the way each stone block has texture but also the combination of many of them together in this wall also has texture.  The pine spruce boughs also provide a contrast in texture next the to the wall.


Submitting these to Friday's Hunt hosted by Teresa at Eden Hills.