Victorine #72 CAS with Fall Theme

This is my card for the current Victorine Originals Challenge which is to do a Clean and Simple card with a Fall theme.  I am so in love with this leaf die that I just had to do another card with it.  I have a whole row of different cards made with this leaf on a shelf in my kitchen and they all inspire me to make "just one more".

The Victorine image of the farm is stamped right on the die cut leaf and colored with colored pencils.  Edges of the leave are inked and I added some faux stitching to the dotted designer paper for more of a down home look.

You can find the challenge HERE 
and there is always a drawing for stamps.
Check it out.

Victorine #71 Fall or Thanksgiving

The Victorine Originals Challenge this week is to do a Fall or Thanksgiving card.  I chose Fall and this is my card.  Bob and I recently took a trip up to northern WI and the Fall color was at it's peak.  It was gorgeous, and one of my favorite things to look for along the country roads is the vines growing up the trees.  Never mind that they are probably in the process of killing off a tree.  They turn the most beautiful colors and I love seeing them.

My card is a very simple one.  I chose offwhite cardstock and stamped the vine on after coloring my stamp with inkpads.  (three different colors)  Then I ran the entire piece through the Cuttlebug in the brick wall embossing folder.  The bricks didn't show up too well, so I sponged some ink on until I was happy.

You can find the challenge HERE.  Check it out.  There is always a drawing for a gift certificate for stamps.

The Cider - The System

 Yesterday I said we had a system with our cider making.  Now I'm here to show you the pictures.  You  are not getting real action pictures as I need both hands working on apples and who will hold the camera?  But I think you can tell by the juice on the table and in the bowl that we were in the middle of making it right here.

The first picture is of the grinding contraption that Bob put together.  This is a New in the Box Garbage Disposal that he mounted to this little stand that he built just like you would mount it under your kitchen sink.  The top view is on the right and the hole is what you would put your potato peels etc. down.  Bob is an electrician and built a nice, safe grinder with an "on/off" switch to grind up the apples.

 The bowl under the stand is to set the mesh bag in that will catch the ground up apples when they come out the spout on the disposal.  I guess you could attach the bag, but we just hold it in place as this step goes pretty fast.

Next we transfer the bag in the bowl over to the cider press.  The bowl goes under the spout and the mesh bag goes inside the press and lets the cider drain out.  We have learned to not turn the press too fast as we have broken more bags than I need to mention in our learning process.  The cider drains out the spout and gets poured into a cleaned up milk jug and put in our freezer with  a good bit of head space for freezing and no cap on until it's frozen. This is our 3rd gallon & it sure looks good for Christmas this year.

Apple Time

 It's Apple Time.  We have three trees that outdid themselves this year.  This week is Apple Pie and Cider making week.  Tonight we did some of both.  I think we do it all the hard way, but I will never be sure.

Today while Bob was at work, I washed these three bowls of apples.  We figure this many makes a gallon of cider.  And we have a system.  But I think I have to talk about cider tomorrow as I forgot to take pictures.

After dinner tonight we first made two pies.  This part of our system works well as we can make cider while the pies are in the oven.  This next picture is Bob peeling apples.  He peels and I trim and cut them up.  We have a wonderful apple peeler that makes this part go fast.




Peeling Apples

After Bob gets the apples peeled and cut, I get to put the pies together.

These are 8" pies and I bake them for 50 minutes. 

 

All Peeled and Cut for Pie or Cider

Most of the pies are for the freezer for this winter.  But I keep one out to eat every now and then.

Puffball Mushroom

I guess it's that time of year again.  A friend emailed a picture to Bob last night and said, "Is this a puffball mushroom"?  The picture was small but I assured him that "as near as I could see, it was a puffball".  That alerted me to the fact that it was time to go looking.  I call our woods, our "Fairy Chasm" as it's steep on both sides and has a little water at the bottom that's the overflow from our lake.  I should not have walked into it with sandals on today either, but I did.

This is what I found. It's not a big one - maybe 5" across - but enough to have some fun with.  I had a handful of dried weeds too that I intended to spray and use for decorating, but by the time I got most of the way through the woods, which is small, I decided I might not make it back up the hill if I insisted on carrying the dried weeds, so I ditched them and came out with only the puffball and a bunch of tiny green pickers that stuck all over the front of my shirt.

Our friend made a Mushroom Omelet with some of his this morning and I may try that next.  I usually make Mushroom Soup - which tastes just like Campbell's.  Check out YOUR woods this week.

Victorine #70 Halloween

Halloween and/or Spooky is the challenge at Victorine Originals this week.  Check it out HERE. There is always a drawing for stamps. I don't have any spooky stamps so had to use Tim Holtz die cut houses for help.  I die cut a hole with my Spellbinders Classic Circle in the black cardstock and then cut a yellow circle and glued it in.  I think it's a fabulous moon.  The fairy is stamped in black on the moon.  The houses are cut out of black and then gold.  I left some of the windows black for effect and didn't match the houses perfectly as I wanted the gold reflection of the moon on the roofs.

Go make a Spooky card.  You could win some stamps.

Repurposed or Recycled

Good Morning, Saturday.  We have warm weather and it's not raining and who can think about Christmas?  Card Makers always have to be ahead of the game, don't we?

One of my very favorite things to do is recycle - anything and everything - and especially on greeting cards.  I found a pattern by Connie Babbert HERE and thought it was a grand idea.  She even has links to samples.   It needed two sided paper.  I actually don't have any that works for Christmas, and I found for this project, my double sided cardstock was too thick, so dug out one of my "bought especially for cards" old dictionaries to use as it has print on both sides.  The red cardstock is a leftover that I had punched a deckled rectangle out of.  It's crooked because it was the leftover. (Don't buy that).  The gift image is Hampton Art and could be colored or paper pieced for more interest.  The tree can also be glued down or DECORATED.  I wanted to start with a simple masculine card, so this is it.  Works for me.

HSCRC13 #17 Tell Me the Stories of Jesus

This is my card for the current Hymn and Scripture Challenge which you can find HERE.  The hymn is Tell Me the Stories of Jesus.  I am not familiar with this hymn and kept getting it mixed up with "Tell Me the STORY of Jesus".  The entire Bible is the STORY of Jesus, but the stories are in the gospels, which is where I am reading just now.

One of my favorites is the story of the Prodigal Son - the reason being that I can identify so well.  I found the story in Luke 15 and the verse I chose was Luke 15:17 which starts "When he finally came to his senses..."  Look it up.

Class Reunion?

If you think you will see pictures of my 50th Class Reunion, you can think again.  Bob and I headed "up north" where everyone in WI goes in summer for a two day planning meeting for him (they entertained the spouses too) and then on to my class reunion and a visit with family.  Now about the reunion.  We walked into a room of "elderly people" and I thought I was in the wrong place, but then I saw a familiar face.  Mine in the mirror?  Good thing it wasn't.  We WERE in the right place and lucky for us all, the organizers had made buttons with pictures out of the yearbook.  So I could relax a bit and at least remember the first names.

I thought this reunion was lots better than the last when people seemed to me to be trying to prove something.  This time we concentrated on accomplishments of different people and happy memories of the School Days.  One person walked about 130 miles to the reunion to raise money for the hungry in Haiti.  He was limping a bit, but was able to get up front and say a few words.   There are lots of NICE people in my High School Class.

The Fall color was at its peak in northern WI and we thoroughly enjoyed our ride back home today.  We stopped lots of times to take pictures and I want to share a few of them.

Old Barn

Rolled Snow Fence

Elcho Water Tower

Victorine Challenge #69-Round

I didn't realize how hard a ROUND card could be - or maybe how hard I tried to make it.  At first I tried to use a round image and my flowers all had stems.  Then the card was no longer round.  So I gave up and stopped trying to be such a perfectionist.  I rather like how this turned out.  I have loved that tiny Victorine leaf for a long time.  I left it uncolored because I liked it that way.  It has a personality all its own.

The two big dies are  Tim Holtz and I inked the edges of the one on the right.

 

This is for the current Victorine

 Originals challenge located HERE.  Check it out.  Make a card.  There is always a drawing and a gift certificate for Victorine Originals stamps.

HSCRC13 #16 I Love to Tell the Story

One of my most favorite things to do is to share what God has done for me, and with me for other people.  I am always excited to see what He does.  It makes Him so real, and makes my 'small faith' stronger.  I am always on the lookout for "God Stories" and I love to tell them, so I chose Ephesians 1:6 which says, "All praise to God for His wonderful kindness to us.

I am sitting here this morning looking out my front window.  It's a seemingly gray and dull day - very still with mostly clouds.  As I watch, suddenly but slowly, long rays of sunlight creep across the grass and stay wherever there is not a tree, bush, or rock to block it.

God is like that.  He comes and stays where there is nothing blocking Him.

Victorine All About Birthdays

Good Morning

This is my card for the newest Victorine Originals Challenge found HERE.  This challenge is All About Birthdays and should be easy and fun for everyone.

I used a Victorine image for the lady and one for the sentiment.  She is colored with copics.  Sexy, hey?

The flowers are Tim Holtz Tattered Flower with edges inked and a Prima stuck on top.

The base of the card is a leftover from my stamping group this morning and I ran it through the Cuttlebug.

Check out the site.  There is always a drawing for stamps.

Victorine Challenge #67 Vintage Anything

Hello to Everyone. 

 I hope you are having a wonderful relaxing Labor Day.  I have done nothing but play and sleep today.  Playing includes making cards and this is my card for the Victorine Originals #67 Challenge which is Anything Vintage .  The challenge is located HERE. Each time a winner is chosen and is given a $10 certificate to spend on stamps on the Victorine Originals site.

 I hate to tell you, but I LOVE my card.  I sure had to play with the "smoke bubbles" to get them exactly where I wanted them, but I love how it turned out in the end.  The vintage engine is pretty cool too.  This is a fine lined awesome good quality stamp.  It has a lot of fine details that all show when you stamp it and I am always very impressed. So check out the challenge.

HSCRC13 #15 He Leadeth Me

Hi Everyone, This is my card for the newest Hymn and Scripture Challenge #15 located HERE.  The hymn is He Leadeth Me. I took a little liberty and updated the words to be more modern and more to my liking.  The panel on the left just says, "He Leads Me"  He does and I am so glad for it.  I have to be listening and familiar with His voice to know what He is saying though, and sometimes I am listening to way too many other voices.

When I ask God a question and I get the same answer twice in a very short time, I usually sit up and listen.  For example, I have ben praying for a person for many years.  A couple days ago I was reading a chapter in the morning and really started whining to God as to why my prayers for this person were not answered.  I was reading in Matthew and a note took me to Ephesians 6:12, which says we are fighting against the spiritual forces of evil and our struggle is not really with people.  OK.  I accepted that. The next thing I read is a small devotional book called Jesus Calling.  I read the reading for the day which also referred me to Eph 6:12.  Now I am really listening.  The third thing happened this morning.  We sang a song in church that has a line that says, "the God of angel armies is always by my side".  I can't sing it without crying.  This was all such an encouragement to me to keep praying for the person, and to know that God - who is more powerful than the spiritual forces of evil - is on my side and with Him there, I can't lose.



HSCRC13 #14

This is my card for the Hymn and Scripture Challenge13 #14 located HERE.    I found SO many verses that talked about the Holy Spirit, but finally picked one of the most well known as it's just plain GOOD.

Gal. 5:22 mentions what we would be like if we were constantly filled with the Holy Spirit and not fighting him with our own willfulness.

(love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness & self control)

The Spirit is the breath of God that breathes Spiritual life into us when we believe.  God breathes the life into all living things and I have represented this with the flower.  I am always very inspired by God's creation in nature.  Flowers are beautiful and anyone whose life is controlled by the Spirit of God is beautiful too.

First Beans

Wowie

I said in my last post that I could see some beans that were ready to pick and I took my picture to prove it, but when I sent Bob up there on the ladder, he came down with an entire meal.  They HIDE.  They really do.  I am excited to get a meal out of my little garden.  Bob said there are lots of little ones up there and I can see lots of flowers, so it's lookin' good.  We may have more than one meal of fresh beans, but I will still head to the Farmer's Market for some to freeze.

Good Night All.

Where's Jack

I think you've probably heard the story of Jack and the Beanstalk.  I have, but can't remember it very well.  Bob must be Jack.  This is a half barrel that I planted some climbing beans in and on the bottom I put a little tripod for them to climb on.  Bob decided they needed more climbing room, so he stuck a very long piece of conduit in there for them to climb on.  Not sure why because Alvin and Bugs B. couldn't reach them anyway.  They had already chewed off the ones in front and I think I got smart with this barrel.  There have been "no beans" forever and then I went out and looked and way up at the top where I can't reach,  and can hardly see, there are BEANS.  Picture below to prove it.

I am going to have to get Bob to get a ladder tonight and pick these guys before Alvin remembers he can climb.

These beans are not what I have seen in the gardens of my friends who are for real gardeners, but they are beans if my camera can be trusted and one of these days, I will have enough saved up for a meal.

On Straw Bale Gardening

I am not a gardener.

I've said it before and I will say it again.

I am not a gardener.  I get tired just looking at the weeds and what the bugs do to my attempts is always nasty, but this year I tried something different.  I was very excited about Straw Bale Gardening www.strawbalegardens.com   I bought the book.  I studied the book.  I did exactly as the book says.  I planted pickling cucumbers among other things.  I saw lots of blooms on the bale that had them, but never thought to look for cucumbers - even tho' the book said they could grow 4-5" in one day.  So this morning I thought I would just check.  Do these look like little pickles to you?  I told you I was not a gardener.  They totally got away from me but I picked nine of these and put most of them in a salad for lunch.  They are awesome.  I couldn't quite believe how FRESH things taste right out of the garden.  I think I will watch them a little closer now and may even get some little ones for my Sweet Refrigerator Pickles.

HSCRC13 #13

Hi Everyone,

This is my card for the current Hymn and Scripture Challenge (HSCRC13 #13) located HERE.  I can't remember singing this hymn, but my sister can and good old Mister Bob sang me the first two lines.   I didn't have to look far to find a great thought and that thought reminded me of another song.  I picked the second line of the first verse (Our Shelter in the stormy blast).  This reminded me of "A shelter in the time of storm" and I immediately thought of my Our Daily Bread Lighthouse stamp.  It has verses to go along with it and Proverbs 18:10 was perfect.

God is SO MANY things to us and  "shelter" is so necessary lately.  He is our Help, our Hope, our Shelter and I added a Lifeline out of twine and a music note for Joy.

So...

A lighthouse is not only a shelter, but a warning with a huge light to lead us to it quietly - in the middle of our storms.  We tend to run AWAY from any storm that comes along, but God is there in the middle of it to shelter us and care for us.

Victorine #65

Good Morning Everyone

 

Today starts another Victorine Originals Challenge and this one is White on White with one Color Accent.

 

I think that combination can be an awesome and elegant card.  So many options.  I put the background of off white cardstock through the Cuttlebug with the Swiss Dot embossing folder and then stamped and cut out a Spellbinders Petite Scalloped Oval for the Victorine Originals Sentiment.  The flower is a double Prima held on with a button brad.  Enter your own card .  You may just win the draw.

HSCRC13 #12 Leaning on the Everlasting Arms

Hi Everyone,

This is my card for the current Hymn and Scripture Challenge located HERE.  The hymn is "Leaning on the Everlasting Arms.  I will admit I had a little trouble coming up with an idea to run with.  I think the first part of all three stanzas is great and put those words on the card.

"What a Fellowship..."

"Oh, how sweet to walk..." and

"What have I to dread..."

These three lines are the best for me, but I did have a hard time relating to snuggling in God's arms. (I am way to independent)   I concentrated on the word "Lean" and finally came up with Bill Withers song "Lean on me" which helped by being a stepping stone to the real thing.  Withers is talking about leaning on a human being "when you're not strong".  I can relate to that.  It's all about trust.  You would not "spill your guts" to a person you didn't trust, nor would you ask for help if you didn't think they could give it.  If you leaned on someone with a broken leg, you both would fall.  So the verse I picked is Proverbs 3:5a (Living Bible) "Trust in the Lord completely..."  This is even more than to just 'lean'.  It's going all the way.

Victorine #64 Summer Fun

 

Good Morning,

Today starts a new challenge on Victorine Originals.  Check it out.  There is always a winner.  The challenge this week is to make a Summer Fun card with the colors of summer.  You can find it HERE.  I chose green as it's my favorite color and I am totally enamored with the green that's everywhere this year because of all the rain we've had.  Last night was an AWESOME storm.  I swear I saw snow 'splopping' on the window once, but didn't want to believe it.  Then later the weather man showed a picture that someone sent with hail, so I suppose I saw snow.  It was LOUD and CLOSE and scary at times. They also said there were 780 lightning strikes in our county in 10 min.  I believe it.

 The frog on my card lives in our lake with his buddies and even HE was hiding last night.  He is big and loud, but only comes out on nice summer evenings to sing and eat mosquitos.  I love him.

Victorine Challenge #63

Good Morning, Cardmakers and everyone else.  Soon to be listed is the Victorine Originals  current challenge and you can find it HERE.  Last I looked it was not up yet, but you can get the jump on everyone else.  The #63 challenge is Friendship in Bloom.   Both the 'friends' image and the sentiment are Victorine Originals stamps and the girls' dresses work really great for paper piecing too.  I left them plain this time as I wanted a sort of raggy homemade look and I wanted the entire image to show. Such pretty calico dresses. My background is a Basic Grey cardstock.   Picking flowers and sharing in the sunset.  What a dream.

Bugs! Keep Away!

Hi People

I am thinking this recipe might be a good one for some of you if you are having the same problem we are.

We had a beautiful Independence Day.  We think we counted over 40 people at our annual picnic.  The food was plentiful and wonderful.  The people were friendly and the bugs were few.  I had made up some of my homemade "Bug Keep Away" stuff and Bob sprayed it around the yard just before guests were supposed to arrive.  It seemed to do the trick as there were a few mosquitos, but not enough to have people leaving for home.  And I didn't see anyone doing the "Slap Dance".   But that all changed the next day.  Dramatically.  The next day the mosquitos were thick.  We were shocked as it happened so fast.  So I made up more of my 'brew' and have instructed Bob to keep the area around the back door sprayed so when I let the dog out, he and I both don't get eaten alive.  I am giving the recipe to anyone who wants it.  I got it from a friend a few years ago.  It works well for at least half a day and probably longer. So, it's good for a party.  Just spray again if it seems to wear off.  Here is the 'skinny'.

 

1 cup lemon scented dish detergent

1 cup lemon scented ammonia

2 gallons water

 

That's all there is to it.  We have a two gallon sprayer that you carry around, but if you don't want to be bothered with that, just mix up the brew and get a spray bottle from Walgreens or the hardware store.  You need to spray the grass and the bushes and anywhere you think the critters are hiding.

This does not kill the bugs.  The citrus is just a smell they don't like one bit and the dish detergent makes it stick to the grass for awhile, so they stay away.

I'm not saying it's magic, but sometimes it sure feels that way.  I was not bothered at all at the picnic, but the next day the little critters came out in full force in broad daylight.  I ended up with bites all over including three bee stings.  (No worries.  I'm not allergic and they just itch)  The aloe that I usually use for mosquito bites (and it takes them away) did not work, and they swelled quite a bit, so I'm assuming a bee got me when I was rinsing off soda cans to recycle.  I saw some little ones in the grass.  I hope this will be as helpful to you as we have found it.  We are thankful for all the rain we have had this year, but it sure made the mosquitos hatch. Good luck to anyone who tries it.

HSCRC13 #11

Good Morning

This is my card for the current Hymn and Scripture Challenge located HERE.  The hymn is Jesus Never Fails and I remember singing it a lot when I was young, but somehow the idea never stuck back then.  I think sometimes you need some of life's hard experiences where you are forced by the circumstance to call on God and then WAIT.  During the "wait" for His rescue is the time when you have to remember that Jesus Never Fails.

The verse I picked says I stand 'silently' but I have to confess that most of the time, it's not.  Most of the time it's kicking and screaming and wanting my way, but then you get to a point where you maybe think you just don't care anymore and give up.  Up steps God for the rescue (drum roll here) because then you are pliable in His hands and He can be in charge.  I thank Him so much that He never fails whether it's planning our lives, just watching our situations or actually rescuing us from the deep doo doo we get ourselves into.  He DOES what He said He would do.

Victorine Challenge #62

 

Oops!  Looks like I forgot to post my card for the current Victorine Originals Challenge located HERE  The challenge is to use Red, White, and Blue or Monochromatic using one of the three colors.  I used the blue.  I started with Ivory Cardstock, stamped a music background that I distressed a bit over the Ivory with Blue Ink.  Next I stamped the tree image with the children and popped up the punched hearts made with designer paper which I matched on the left side.  A sentiment could be put in the scalloped oval before sending the card.

Straw Bale Garden

Hi Everyone,  I am so excited to show one of the reasons I have not been posting very often this summer. My reason is that I have been gardening.  Well, yes, gardening.  I am not a gardener.  I hate getting down in the dirt.  I don't like getting dirt under my fingernails and I hate being outside with the mosquitos.  The garden I am playing around with this year is different.  It's called Straw Bale Gardening and you can read about it HERE.  I was sold on the idea when I first heard about it from one of my stamping friends.  I bought the bales and Bob started hooking up the system for me.  What you see in this picture are my first Sugar Snap Peas and they sure are good.  This bale is in front of my front porch with chicken wire for the peas and beans to climb on.  I first made the mistake of planting bean seeds that were too old and they didn't come up.  Always trying to save a buck.

So I dug them up and started over.  This is why the peas are ahead and already have "food" on the vine.
The beans are just beginning to climb and will soon have flowers.
Yes, you plant IN the bale.  The bale turns to compost by the end of the summer and you start over in the spring. (or if it's early enough, you can plant another batch in the same bale this year.)   So I am very excited to get my first peas.
I have another bale on the other side of my Front Porch with cucumbers growing nicely and 4 more bales out in the yard with cabbage, broccoli, a tomato plant, a huge pumpkin, (well that's what the package says anyway)  a zucchini plant and 3 potato plants.  The BOOK says three potato plants COULD get an entire bushel of potatoes.  I'll let you know.  I'm sure hoping!
 

HSCRC13 #10

Good Morning,  I have been carrying this card around for several days trying to get a decent picture, but here it is.  This is my card for the Hymn and Scripture Challenge.  When I first saw it, I just couldn't find a verse OR think of anything creative.  Sometimes God has a different idea and He just waits for us to catch up.  That's what happened this time.  I just kept praying "Open my eyes, Lord" about anything and everything I had a problem with.  One of the things was my resentment of my job.  It has recently become way more demanding and the job I used to love is not the same job anymore.  So I determined to be thankful anyway - even for the fact that I have to go in.  It's a family business and my attitude can make or break the day for everyone around.

One day it occurred to me that if I didn't go in to work, I would rarely get to see my busy, busy son.  I believe it was God who opened my eyes to this fact.  So was it because I first obeyed by being thankful (barely) or because God is merciful and loving.  Anyway He opened my eyes which helped me to be very grateful.  The two phases I picked out are "Glimpses of Truth" and "The wonderful key".  I believe the key is Thankfulness.  My verse is Psalm 25:15  "My eyes are ever looking to the Lord for help".

Father's Day #60

Hello Everybody.  I hope your day was nice and if you celebrated Memorial Day, you had some nice weather.  It's cold and rainy here and except for some shopping, we laid low.  Shopping?  Yes.  We bought Bob a new grill for Father's Day.  He has been borrowing grills for the July 4th picnic and he said, "Enough", and we found a sale.

This is my card for the current Victorine Originals Challenge coming soon located here
.http://www.vostamps.blogspot.com/ 

   This is to be a Father's Day or Manly card.  Isn't it just like a man to be out on the ocean in a rowboat at sunset.  (although the beauty would be hard to resist.) I sponged the sunset including the already orange sun and cut the rocks out of a piece of torn corrugated cardboard - one of my favorite distress things to use.  I inked it with Ranger Distressed Vintage Photo and sponged blue in the sky and ocean.  I think I like it.

.

 

QFTD165 - Jill

Hi Everyone.

  This is my card for the current Queen for the Day challenge on splitcoaststampers.com located HERE.  I got to make the sample for Jill.  How exciting is THAT!  I embossed a piece of designer paper, added a strip of Basic Grey and thought it needed some faux stitching.  Then a piece of Vintage Lace - one of my favorites.  I attached the lace with brads.  The butterfly is a two piece Spellbinders die and I love it.

Discover it...

I didn't get this card uploaded last week as I was not sure it was worth looking at, but it's growing on me.  The challenge located HERE was to try something you  had not tried before.  This was a stretch for me.  I am not sure what to call it, but will tell you what I did.

I found some instructions on a blog and sort of followed them.  I guess I NEVER follow directions all the way.  I used a piece of Watercolor Cardstock.  First I wet the Cardstock and let it dry just a little so the ink would not smear.  Then I stamped the LeBlanc image in green and red.  I colored in the flower with watercolor pencils and let the whole thing dry.  Then I used a wet brush on some light blue Color Box chalk ink and brushed over the top.  I think it worked and I WILL try it again for myself.  I think this will be one of those things I just have to get used to.

On Gardening

To all Real Gardeners

I was just outside trying to weed my garden and talking to you. I know. I should be talking to Jesus, but I was talking to you. I kept asking what people see in weeding a garden. Why is it relaxing or whatever it is, and why do you love it so much. Does weeding quackgrass - or I should say, "pulling the tops off quackgrass" - give you a thrill, or is it smashing a spider before he gets YOU, or maybe it's replacing an earthworm that you just uprooted, who is trying frantically to get somewhere, and that "somewhere" us usually right where you are going to sit next.

These are just some of my questions. I didn't really stay out there long enough to come up with anymore, and I did get a pathetic little pile of grass out of my garden. That's when I decided that a "for real" gardener could do a better job than me and I came in and called one. She, of course, was not home, as I am sure she is out pulling quackgrass in someone else's garden or planting them one. But she will call back.

I may go out again, but this time I will be armed with a dandelion digger, and if I can come up with a bowlful of dandelions that I find growing next to the walk, I'm sure it will make Bob smile.

Buttons & Bows Challenge

Good Morning,

This is my card for the current Victorine Originals Challenge which is Button and Bows located HERE and to be posted on Tuesday morning.

I used a gold background sheet of cardstock to which I added three fussy cut Victorine Originals daisies.  I LOVE these daisies.  Just can't get enough of them.  I glued a button on each one and put an embroidery floss bow on two.  And can't you just imagine these in your flower garden!  Hence the sentiment.  Check out the blog.  Vicki gives prizes.



Mother's Day #58

Good Monday Morning.  The sun is shining and it's already 66º which is unseasonably warm.  I am happy.  This is my card for the current Victorine Originals Challenge located on Vicki's Blog  HERE.   I love how it turned out.  The Background is a piece of dp cardstock and I stamped a Victorine Originals rose.  What mom would not love a rose - or a dozen - for Mother's Day.   I colored the rose and added a pearl flourish and a popped up die cut butterfly cut from a paper sample from my neighbor.   Added pearls on the border too.You can also find a SPECIAL on a brand new set of stamps on Vicki's blog.   Check it out. 
 It won't last long.

HSCRC13 #7 Trust Him

Good Morning

This is my card for the latest HSCRC13 Challenge located HERE.  I mean for it to look very bleak as that's usually the point when we are at the bottom and the only way to look is up.  No matter what is going on in your life, God wants us to Trust Him.  Why is it that we seem to always have to get to the point where our hands our tied and there is just nothing left that we can do before we really decide in our heart to trust?

That's the way it was for me recently, and the situation started to affect me physically.  I thought I was trusting from the very beginning and certainly was loudly "preaching" that, but at the same time, I was doing everything I could to make the situation right, and always wondering WHY God was taking so long in answering our prayers.  He is the Great Engineer and lovingly engineers our lives so we can SEE that we need Him - even in the smallest things.  I am SUCH a slow learner.

Featured Stamper 322

I think the fun of making this card was the newspaper.  It's a 1987 newspaper from somewhere in PA and came to me as packing in a box that held a small  Christmas tree from someone's mom.  I save all the really good stuff and this fit in that catagory.  This is for the Featured Stamper challenge over on Splitcoast located HERE.  I needed a Masculine card or at least practice making them.  Right now they are a challenge so I am practicing.  This one probably has too much "stuff" on it, but here it is anyway. I glued the newspaper onto cardstock, stamped the Unity jeep on cardstock and die cut it with Spellbinders.  Strips of cardstock are scraps (all scraps are good) and the sentiment is Rubbernecker.  Works for me, but then I'm a Girl!

IC383 Patina

Busy, busy day today, but I finally got to play.  Up early and out to breakfast with Bob.  Then dropped off a portable basketball hoop for a friend and on to the office to make a pick up and to Menards to shop a little and last of all we ran to the meat market to pick up our beef quarter.  Feels good to have the freezer full again.  Came back.  Had lunch and then I baked some cookies and brownies to take to our injured employee tomorrow.

Now I get to play and this is my card for the Inspiration Challenge IC383 on Splitcoast and located HERE.   We were to be inspired by the Patina website.  Not much time left to look around the site, so I grabbed the first sample and this is my card.  Background is Recollections cardstock from Michaels.  I Stamped and embossed in red the Inkadinkado feather and stamped the All Night Media sentiment in black.  I just may try the same design in some other colors.  I like this.

WT421 - Fruit and Veggies

Hello again,

This simple card is for the Ways to Use It challenge on Splitcoast located here.  Sorry for the bad picture.  It's really a true white.

Strawberries are my fruit for the challenge.  I added piercing in the upper corner and a band of black on the bottom.  I really like it uncolored.



QFTD159 - Heartsong47

Hello and Happy Saturday

I'm trying to play catch up today and am not sure I am making it, but I had this card waiting to be uploaded for more than a day, so here it is.  This card is for the current Queen for the Day on Splitcoast located here.  Jan has a gallery worth looking at, so you might want to check out her lovely cards.

I used K&Co designer paper for my background, stamped the Stampendous flowers in Archival Jet Black and die cut the butterflies with Spellbinders dies - one out of the same designer cardstock and the small one out of white cardstock and then used a brayer to color it.

  I am so happy with it.