Stampin! with Jaydee

Fine Feathers for Cas-ual Friays

Hi Everyone.  Happy Tuesday.  This is going to be a really short post :-)  It's 9.34 and I am running so late tonight!

I saw this great color challenge across at cas-ual fridays.  Jewel tones on a clean and simple card.  heaven!

I saw this color scheme and KNEW that I had to bring out the Fine Feathers set.  There was a single feather in there that really needed this color scheme.   Of course, it meant coloring with my copics - and some fussy cutting!

I stamped the feather onto the textured card base.  I then stamped it again onto a piece of scrap paper and colored it with my copics.  I then fussy cut around the feather and placed it over the original stamped image.  All that was required was a sentiment and a couple of sparklies.  Isn't this color scheme GORGEOUS.   it is absolutely right up my alley!

Don't forget to stop by Cas-ual fridays and check out the fabulous design team and submission cards.  I know you will find lots of inspiration.

On a personal note

I feel like the white rabbit.... in alice in wonderland... i am really late for an important date!!!! I hope you will forgive me for the quick post tonight.

Warm hugs and prayers for those of you who need a little lift tonight.  I wish you all a beautiful Wednesday.

Hugs

Jaydee

 

Beautiful Season for Casestudy

Hi Everyone.

Hope you all had a fabulous weekend.

I saw this great challenge across at casestudy.  I saw the bird and the flowers and knew that I wanted to create a Christmas card using Beautiful Season.  Here's what I came up with

I kept the layout fairly clean and simple and used a neutral base, just like the inspiration card.  I cut around the chickadee and the holly - mmmm... that was some fussy cutting!  I needed something to ground the focal image and saw a piece of cardstock that I had thrown into my Very Vanilla scraps folder.  It was perfect.  The wood embossing folder (sneak peek from the Holiday catalog!) goes perfectly with the image.  I thought it would be quite hard to print a sentiment on it - but it wasn't.

I colored the image using my copic markers and mounted it onto the base using dimensionals.  Before I did that though, I wrapped some linen thread around the embossed layer.  It was an element that I really liked in the inspiration card and knew that I wanted to carry that through.  The inspiration card also had a pearl - so I added three small pearls underneath the sentiment.

So, what do you think?  Can you see the inspiration card?

I was really pleased with the outcome.  I'm really liking this new embossing folder!  So, why not pop along to casestudy to check out the fabulous design team and submission cards?  I know you will find something to CASE :-)

On a personal note:

Have you ever disturbed something and have it look at you with total hatred.  You know that look that says...... you are SO lucky that I can't get to you?  Well, it happened to me last week!  

I was sitting in Lou's office on a conference call. Actually, I was presenting, when all of a sudden I heard this thump and saw a small bird had flown into the office window.  Before I could even register what had happened I saw, right behind the little bird, a redtailed hawk!  I involuntarily called out "oh!" very loudly and excused myself.  I went to the window and there, on the porch was a female red-shouldered blackbird.  The redtailed hawk was standing right over her and saw me at the window.  He looked at me with absolute hatred.  Really.  He stared at me.  He wasn't scared.  He was just - as we Brits would say - really pissed off!  He knew that I was going to come outside, so he gave me one more look and like Dracula in all the movies, wrapped one wing around him and quickly flew off!   It was a very dramatic arrival and an equally dramatic departure.

I went out onto the porch and saw that the the little blackbird female was still breathing, but very stunned.  I picked her up, rested her in my hand for a few minutes until I knew she was going to be OK.  I then took her to the edge of the driveway and hid her amongst the long grasses.  It was a cool place and I knew she would be safe there.  This would give her a place to recover and get herself back together.   I went back to my call and, once it was finished, about 75 minutes later, went out to check on her.   As I walked toward her spot, she noticed me, and decided it was time to leave.  She flew off to safety.

Now, generally, I don't interfere with nature, but I couldn't watch her be butchered on my porch!  I just couldn't.  I realized though, that the redtailed had actually flushed her into the window.  If she had gone a few feet to the left, she would have been able to get to the woods and probably would have avoided the redtailed and I think he knew that!  I must admit, I have never had any sentinent being look at me with quite that look before!  It was an amazing experience! 

That does remind me of when I was in the Kruger Park many years ago.  It was very early in the morning and we were some of the earliest people out.  The sun was just rising and we went down one of the side roads and noticed two lionesses walking down the middle of the road toward the car.  We stopped the car and turned off the engine.  They walked straight toward the car.  When they got to the front of the car they separated.  One went right and one went left.   She walked so close to the car that she knocked the side mirror.   I was in absolute awe - absolute awe - when she walked past the window and looked me straight in the eye.  We literally were eye to eye.  Now that... really was awesome.  An encounter I will never forget.  The difference was... the redtailed wasn't happy with me because I had disrupted his dinner!  The lioness - she was just curious, but her look was enough to let me know that I was VERY lucky to be sitting behind the glass of my side window!

As always, thank you for stopping by my little area of the stamping blogosphere.  I really do appreciate your visits - and your comments.

Warm hugs and prayers for those of you who need a little lift tonight.   Have a fabulous Tuesday.

Hugs

Jaydee

Card recipe - all ingredients Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted:

• Card stock:  Very Vanilla
• Stamps:  Beautiful Season - focal image.   Sentiment Papertrey Ink
• Inks:  Basic Black - sentiment.   Image colored with Copics
• Accessories:  Linen thread, basic pearls.
• Tools:  Big Shot.  Wood embossing folder.  Paper snips - necessary for all that fussy cutting:-)

Artistic Etchings meets British Invasion for Retro Sketches

Hi Everyone.  Happy Sunday night.

I saw this great sketch across at retrosketches yesterday and, after the appearance of the awesome Bond girl in Friday's opening ceremony, I knew exactly what I wanted to do!

I pulled out My Digital Studio and opened up Artistic Etchings.  I used the crown stamp - that is normally pretty small - and I expanded it.  I printed it out on my printer and colored it using copic markers.  I rustled up some basic rhinestones, some square rhinestones and some basic pearls.  Of course, the card HAD to be red, white and blue. 

Here's my homage to THE best BOND girl evah!  Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II

Of course, I absolutely HAD to use this particular sentiment.  Some of you may remember me using this sentiment on a different card.  In case you have forgotten - this is an English colloquialism that means - uber cool.  way more than cool.   (However, the usual saying is you are all that and a bag of crisps.... or you are all that and a packet of crackers!)  But, that's what the stamp says, and I'll take it as it is :-)

All of the elements on the card remind me of the United Kingdom. 

• Obviously the colors of the Union Jack.
• The Gingham paper.  Gingham was the fabric my summer school uniform was made of. 
• The argyle (argyll) embossed layer as a nod to the fact that HRH has been the Colonel in Chief of the Argyll and Sutherland highlanders for decades.  (Maybe that's where she learned to parachute?)
• The royal blue ribbon (although it is really Midnight Muse) a favorite color of royalty
• A button with four holes - representing England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales
• The "jewels" for the Crown Jewels in the Tower of London

I must admit, I was really pleased with how the crown printed out.  Have I told you that I love my MDS! :-)

So, there you have it, my homage to HRH Queen Elizabeth II.  Of course, I have to pay homage to my old school chum and running mate.  Seb did alright as the Chairman of the Olympic Committee and his speech was just the right tone for the games.  So, I'd say that the sentiment works for him, too! :-)

Why not pop along to retrosketches and see the fabulous design team and submission cards.

On a personal note.

I woke up Saturday morning to the most AWESOME sunrise.  I couldn't believe how fabulous it was.  The wetland was steaming and there was a bright orange streak of clouds in the sky.  A single banner of orange clouds.

After a few minutes - it started to look like this - if you look carefully, you can see the orange reflected off of the mist coming off of the wetlands

A few minutes later - it looked like this

 

Don't forget - check out this post and leave a comment letting me know what you thought about the opening ceremony - or what sports you are most looking forward to.  All comments will be entered into a draw for blog candy.  Draw will be on Friday.

Warm hugs and prayers for those of you who need a little lift tonight.  Have a beautiful Monday

Jaydee

Card recipe - all ingredients Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted:

• Card stock:  Midnight Muse.  Real Red. Whisper White.  Gingham (amuse studio)
• Stamps:  Crown - My Digitial Studio - Artistic Etchings.  Sentiment:  British Invasion (amuse studio)
• Ribbon:  Midnight Muse
• Accessories:  Basic rhinestones, basic pearls.  Square rhinestones (ctmh)
• Tools:  Big Shot.  Argyle embossing folder.  Punch - non-SU

PP106 - Lesley's Theme Challenge and blog candy

Hi Everyone.  Happy Saturday.

Before Lesley went on her blogging break, she created a great Tic Tac Toe theme challenge for us this week.  I had fun playing along with this and actually used it to make 3 cards today.  We really hope you will join us across at the Paper Players for this very fun challenge.

For this particular card I started from the top left - Circles, then thru the center - dry embossing and all the way to the bottom right - Punches.  After I had completed my card I realized that it also worked horizontally across the top row!  Circles, Birthday and Favorite Color.

I really wanted to keep the feel clean and simple and, once again, used my new favorite color - Summer Starfruit.  Starfruit is similar in feel to Kiwi Kiss, but is actually a softer color.  I really love it.  I paired it, once again!, with my other favorite color - Midnight Muse.   I SO prefer this color to Night of Navy. 

• Creating the circle elements was fun.  I pulled out my flower die and some of my favorite Patio Party DSP.  I also used some rhinestones to keep the circle theme going.
• For the dry embossing, I used my Fancy Fan embossing folder and chose the debossed side for this card
• For the punch - I used my new butterfly punch and punched out a butterfly from both a piece of Whisper White cardstock and a piece of Vellum.

Here's what I came up with:

I was really pleased with it.  It took me forever... in fact all my cards seem to be taking me forever to complete.  I think it's because I'm not spending a lot of time in my crafting space.  When I don't get much time to play, I really do get rusty.  It takes me longer to compose the layout.  Much longer to figure out what I'm going to do... all round... everything just seems to take longer!

Now that you have seen what I made, pop along to the other design team members and see the fabulous inspiration they have for you.

Jen

Vicki

Dawn

Nance

LeAnne

Anne Marie

Ann

Amy

Helen

On a personal note:

Well, I am not sure about you, but we certainly watched the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games last night.  I absolutely loved it.  It was so incredibly high tech, but so low tech.  Rowan Atkinson was a scream!  The new BOND girl is AWESOME!  (I screamed with laughter when I realized what was going to happen!)  The smoke stacks appearing out of the ground, the tree rising to let a flood of people come out from underneath it; the children and staff of GOSH brought tears to my eyes.  I didn't want to turn away as there were so many cultural, humorous and historical references that I was worried I would miss something.  I think I got all of them except one.   The pink parade of polyester people!   That really threw me for a loop.  (Found out later that it was a parade of Sargent Peppers.  Mmmmm... not exactly a musical, or fashion - or anything icon - that I like to remember! :-) ) 

I did think that it would have been pretty hard for non-Brits to understand a lot of it, but Danny Boyle had said that these opening games were a homage to the Brits, for the Brits and for the thousands of volunteers.  I loved that the 500 construction workers lined the entry into the arena.  I LOVED the moments of silence for those who had lost their lives in both World Wars.

It was a display of Brits at their best.  Self-deprecating, understated, ridiculous humor, patience and a passion for the "common man"!  So, my hat goes off to Danny Boyle for making me proud - oh, and for keeping me entertained for over 3 hours.  Hats off, too, for managing to capture Brits who are no longer with us in the videos - and for sharing the spotlight with Mohammed Ali.   I also loved the fact that the flame was lit, not by the Olympians themselves - but a nod to the future of athletics.

My gobsmacking moment came when I realized that they were actually going to forge a ring from the firey molten liquid and raise it to become the fifth ring of the Olympic rings.  AWESOME.  Then, watching the joy on the faces of the athletes as they took their walk of pride.  I loved the cauldron and the way it all came together.  So many great moments. 

So, what about you?  What did you all think about the ceremony.  What was your favorite part?  What sport will you be following over the next 16 days?  Leave me a comment on this post and I will draw a winner for a spot blog candy prize.   What is it?   Oooo.... you will have to wait and find out. :-)

As always, thank you for spending time in my little area of the stamping blogosphere.  Warm hugs and prayers for those of you who need a little lift tonight.

Have a beautiful Sunday.

Hugs

Jaydee

Card recipe - all ingredients Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted.

• Card stock:  Summer Starfruit.  Whisper White.  Vellum
• Inks:  Midnight Muse
• DSP: Patio Party
• Sentiment:  Signature Greetings (Papertrey Ink)
• Accessories:  Rhinestones - non-SU
• Tools:  Big Shot.  Flower Die.  Butterfly Punch.  Fancy Fan embossing folder

 

Patio Party Cupcake

Hi Everyone.  Happy Wednesday.  I don't know about you, but I am so looking forward to the weekend!

You may remember that I made a card for my friend the baker in this post.  Well, I had forgotten that I had made a card that was the absolute opposite of this clean and simple card.

I really do try, occasionally, to get outside of my CAS comfort zone, especially when I try a challenge that does exactly that!  This card came from a challenge, I can't remember what sketch challenge it was, but it had more layers than I would normally use and thought it would be a good thing to stretch my wings a little.

Well, I don't know.  Sometimes I think I should just stick with my usual style.  It's not that there is anything wrong with the sketch, it's just that I didn't do as Coco Chanel advised.  "Look in the mirror before you leave the house and remove at least 3 accessories!"  errrrr... in this case... she was so right!

Here's my card anyway... just in case it spurs any creative thoughts for you on any of the elements - or if you just like the layout!

I REALLY do love this DSP, btw.  If you haven't looked at the Patio Party DSP, you really should go check it out again.  I did have fun coloring this digital image and thought it was great that it matched the DSP!

On a personal note:

Cherie, thank you for reminding me about the cashmere sweater, snapping turtle episode!  I had forgotten all about that! 

Well, our mattress arrived today.  I think it is a hit.  It arrived whilst I was on one of my interminable conference calls, so wasn't really able to do much except look at it and sign the paperwork.  So, after I finished work tonight, I went upstairs to get a better look.  Er.  Ummmm... There were 4 cats sprawled out across the bed and it was just one big purr fest!  So, I think it must be comfortable!

I wanted to share a picture of Gilberta with you tonight!

She discovered some bread that Lou had put out.  She sniffed around and decided that there might be something there that she was interested in.  

So, she settled down on her haunches and decided to investigate further!

Nope... she didn't eat the bread.  She was actually picking out the raisins from inside the slices!  Very smart.

Ooooo... furniture arrives tomorrow.  However, the furniture delivery has, honestly, been like a Buster Keaton meets the Three Stooges meets the Keystone Cops routine.  It has been a disaster.  It would take me an hour, and a bottle of wine, to tell you all the things that have gone wrong with these furniture orders.  It's gotten to the point now where all I can do is laugh.  Laughing is the only way I maintain my temper :-)

So... tomorrow... something is arriving.  However, 3 different people have told me 3 different things about what is actually being delivered.  I checked all three lists and tried to find the commonalities.  So far, the only thing that is common across the 3 lists is the cupboard for Lou's office and a mirror!   I'll let you know what really does arrive when I know :-)

As always, thank you for spending a little time in my area of the stamping blogosphere.  Your visits and your comments do mean a great deal to me.  Also, just a reminder, it is your comments that drive what you see on my blog.  Without feedback I don't know that you are getting what you want from my posts :-)

Warm hugs and prayers for those of you who need a little lift tonight.

Have a beautiful Thursday

Jaydee

Fine Feathers

Hi Everyone.  Happy Tuesday.  Hope you are all having a great week so far.

I saw the Fine Feathers set in the SU catty and fell in love with it.  I knew that it would make an awesome background stamp and felt it would be very versatile.

For this card I used each of the feathers in the Fine Feathers set, but used them in different colors.  I used a mixture of Summer Starfruit, Daffodil Delight, Basic Grey and a non-SU gray - Fog.  I needed a slightly different color of gray.  I could have just used the "stamp off" technique to get a lighter shade, but really wanted a different shade - instead of a lighter shade.  Does that make sense?  It's been a very long day.... but am hoping it does make sense! :-)

I love white with gray and yellow.  It gives such a crisp feel.  Of course, I had to use My Digital Studio to create the sentiment.... I love that I can make  any size - and of course - any type of sentiment with MDS.  I know the new version comes out on August 1, and I will definitely be ordering the upgrade.

Here's my card:

I had originally intended to put the focal image on a base of Basic Gray.  However, when I did that I realized that all it needed was a small 1/4 frame behind it, otherwise the yellow didn't pop as much.  So I put the frame around the focal layer and popped it using dimensionals.  The base layer is white and I think it works much better than my original plan.  All that was left was to use a little baker's twine and a big black button to anchor the statement.  

So, what do you think?  Have you bought this set or used it yet?  How many of you missed it in the new catty? :-)  I know that I sometimes see cards and think, where on earth did they get that set? Then realize that I had missed it when going through the catty 300 times!

On a personal note

Lou and I spent more time last night getting the basement entertainment room ready.  On Thursday the table and chairs arrive.  Not much left to do down there and only 1 more piece of furniture to arrive!  After that, we can decorate that area and call it done!

Tomorrow... FINALLY... we will be sleeping on a bed.  A real bed.  As opposed to a mattress on the floor.  Not only will we be sleeping in a real bed... but we will have bedside tables, bedside lamps and a dresser!  Oh... the bedroom will almost be ready, too!

Each week, a little something arrives and it starts to feel like our home - as opposed to some gorgeous place that we are camping in!

As Lou is out of town, I am trying out his office for a change.  It looks onto the front of the house, whereas my office looks out onto the wetland.  It's such a different feel, the view is different and, I noticed, the bird songs are different.  Weird.. but there is that fabulous glade of trees there and there are some birds living in there, that we don't see in the wetland.  All afternoon I was listening to this bird sing away... and I have absolutely NO idea what it was.  I tried looking for it - but seriously, looking for a little bird singing in a wooded area, with a pair of binoculars, from your desk.... well, it isn't ideal :-)

I do have a photograph for you tonight, though.  I was standing at the Great Room window wondering who was at the feeder and noticed this "thing" running across the area we have just seeded.  He was moving MIGHTY fast and, because it took me several seconds to realize what it was, I managed to get just a single shot!

I have never seen a turtle move quite that fast before!  He really was moving at a cracking pace.  he's a painted turtle and is the most prevalent of the 10 turtle species that occur in our area.

As always, thank you for stopping by and a very big thank you to those of you who stop by and leave a message for me.

Warm hugs and prayers for those of you who need a little lift tonight.  I hope Wednesday is a fabulous day for you

Hugs

Jaydee

Snow Much Fun - Paper Players 105 - Jaydee's Sketch Challenge

Hi Everyone.  Happy Sunday.

I'm really late posting my challenge card.  It's been a crazy weekend.  Lou and I were running around yesterday getting all sorts of things - like curtain rods and a mattress!  It was a long, very hot, very humid, day!  It took forever to decide which mattress we wanted.  It really was a case of the The Three Bears - except in our case, two bears!  I like my bed firm.  Lou likes his bid soft!  Reaching a compromise was what took so long!

Today we have been painting, hanging curtains, putting our new bed together - sans mattress!  The master bedroom is starting to come together.  Once we have the mattress (which should arrive on Wednesday), the bedroom will be ready to decorate and it will be DONE!   One room actually complete!  Then, I'll be able to start sharing some photographs - well, of the bedroom at least!

The busy weekend leads me to the issue of my Paper Players card.  I made a card on Saturday morning just before we left.  I set up the challenge post much later on Saturday and saw that the very talented Dawn Easton and I had used the same stamp set - and the same element in the corner of the card!!!!  We used totally different color schemes, embellishments and DSP, but the same set.  It's not the first time that a couple of players have used the same set, but I had thought I would get the time to create a new card.   Unfortunately, I wasn't able to!   So, I have to go with what I have.You really need to check out Dawn's card.  One of these days I am going to be brave enough to sew on a card - it looks fabulous on Dawn's card.

Here's the sketch:

Here's my card... I really do absolutely LOVE this Snow Much Fun set.

Here's a closeup of the Le Pouff.   I LOVE this stuff.

I also LOVE this new SU DSP and the new Snowflake die!  Finally 6 sided snowflakes! :-)

I really hope you will play along with us this week.  So, just pop along to the Paper Players.  We can't wait to visit your creations.

Click on the links below to see the fabulous design team inspiration cards - they have outdone themselves this week.

Jen

Dawn

Helen

Nance (welcome back, Nance!)

LeAnne

Amy

As always, thank you for spending a little time in my area of the stamping blogosphere.  Your visits and comments really do mean a great deal to me.

Warm hugs and prayers for those of you who need a little lift tonight.   I hope your Monday is fabulous!

Hugs

Jaydee

Card recipe - all ingredients Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted:

• Stamps:  Snow Much Fun.  Confetti
• Card stock:  Watercolor, Baja Breeze
• DSP: Snow Festival
• Tools:  Big Shot.  Snowflake Die.  Paper snips -fussy cutting that snowman took a little time:-)
• Inks:  Bashful Blue - used to color the watercolor paper.  Colored with Copic markers
• Accessories:  Brad (non SU).  Le Pouff (Amuse Studio).  Dazzling Diamonds Glitter (for the confetti snowflakes)

Summer Starfruit, Fancy Fan kinda birthday!

Hi Everyone.  Happy Friday.  I hope you all had a great week!

I have a quick card for you tonight, using two of my favorite all time colors.  Summer Starfruit and Midnight Muse.  I really do LOVE these colors.   I saw this great layout across and cleanandsimple stamping and couldn't wait to use it.

I needed a birthday card for a colleague who is an awesome baker!  For her birthday I bought herthe "Sweet Holidays" Pressed Cookie Stamps and the Season of Sweets Designer Kit.  I thought those, along with this birthday card, would be just the ticket.  I didn't have the right sentiment - so off to MDS again....  Ann R...... MDS is My Digital Studio! :-)  I love MDS and am thrilled that the new version is coming out VERY soon.  I will certainly be getting an upgrade.  

Here's my card

I just love SU's new butterfly punch.  It is such a pretty shape.  I thought that I would create the butterfly from the butterfly DSP in Patio Party.  It really is such a pretty DSP pack.  All that was needed to added a little bling was some non-SU glass pearls.  I hope she likes her present!

On a personal note:

Oh... more furniture arrived today!  Yes... two chairs for the great room arrived and we LOVE them.   Yes, LOVE them.  They might be the only thing we have in the great room... but it is better than two camping chairs!  Tonight we get to move around the furniture that arrived for the basement.  I wasn't able to move it around when it - finally - arrived on Thursday, as Lou was out of town (again!) and it was much too heavy for me to move alone.  We don't actually have a single room that is complete.  I mean, it's pretty hard to hang paintings and decorative pieces, when you actually don't have furniture.   :-)  But, it is getting there!   We now have a full bedroom suite - yes, the bed finally arrived.  However, we don't have a mattress for the new bed, so have to go organize that tomorrow!

The weather finally broke... but only for a short time.  It was wonderful whilst it lasted though!  This heatwave is really exhausting and I find myself yearning for the cooler weather of fall.

I can't close my blog tonight without talking about that wretched shooting in Colorado.   Kids.  How can you deliberately shoot young kids?  I just DONT GET IT!!!!  I just don't know how to verbalize my feelings.  It makes me angry.  It makes me sad.  It makes me....well... I just can't say.  All I can say is that my heart, and my prayers, go out to the victims and families of all of those affected by this heinous act.

Warm hugs and prayers for all of you who need a little lift tonight.  I hope your Saturday is filled with the sound of laughter and the feel of a warm hug.

Jaydee

 

Checking in

Hi Everyone.  Happy Thursday.

I'm sorry I have been AWOL for a couple of days.  Wednesday was a very long day at the office.  Yesterday afternoon I was waiting for furniture to arrive.  Yes... finally... some furniture.  However, it didn't arrive between 12-4, which is when it was supposed to arrive.   It arrived at 7pm!  By the time they had unloaded, unwrapped, moved it, and got it into position....and I'd rearranged it, fluffed it, etc. it was past 9.  So, I didn't to my blog post.

I did want to give a shout out to Cindy Beach.  I met Cindy at the SU conference last year - along with Soozie and they are both FABULOUS.  Cindy showed just how fabulous she is.  She was one of only 10 SU demos who was chosen as an SU Artisan Designer for the next 12 months.  This is a huge honor for her and really well deserved.  So, please won't you pop along to Cindy's blog and leave her a little crafting love?  It's wonderful when nice things happen to nice people :-)

Rach, I want to give a shout out to you, too.  I also wanted to let you know that I did a couple of remote RAKs today in honor of HHD.  I know today will have been very hard for you, especially as you are imobilized.  I also know that Hannah will have been looking down on you celebrating her day.  Very big hugs, my friend.

I'll be back with you all tomorrow and will have a card and some new photos to share, including a couple of a little creature I wasn't expecting to see!

Warm hugs and prayers for those of you who need a little lift tonight.  Also for Soozie who spent a rather scary few hours in hospital.

I hope your Friday is filled with love and warm hugs.

Jaydee

 

Paper Players 104 - LeAnne's theme challenge round 2 - dedicated to all of you

Hi Everyone.  Happy Monday.

I hope you all had a fabulous weekend.

I have a quick card for you tonight.  I really loved LeAnne's theme challenge this week and this is the second card for the challenge.  I dedicate this card to all of you who visit my blog so regularly - I really do thank you!

For me... it doesn't matter what language you speak, thank you seems to be a phrase we all love to hear.  Here's my ployglot thank you card!  Once again, MDS to the rescue!

Don't you love Midnight Muse and Raspberry Ripple together?  I think it's a gorgeous combo.  It kind of reminds me of English school uniforms.... the deep, rich navy and red with the crisp white! 

I used MDS to type up the various thank you sentiments that I captured online.  I then used a recurring color theme throughout the entire card.  All that was left to do, was to type up the main sentiment - Thanks a Million - and print it all out.  Very easy.. although finding the thank you phrases, copying them and changing the text took a little while.  But, I think it was all worth it.

On a personal note:

Another HOT day here today.  High 90s - very high 90s with heat indices up at around 110. The one good thing.... the humidity is down below 30%.  It feels fabulous.  It's so much better when the humidity is low.  Although... still too hot for me!

I had to share this photograph.  I loved the way the setting sun captured the yellow flowers in the distance.

We do have some interesting moths visit us

The other morning I went out of the basement door and found that the turkey had left us a present.  A beautiful tail feather, just sitting in the grass waiting for me to pick it up!  I have an idea to mount it, but just haven't worked out what I'm going to do with the background yet.  Once I have decided, i will be sure to share it with you.

Here she is.

As always, THANK YOU - THANKS A MILLION - for visiting my little area of the stamping blogosphere.   Warm hugs and prayers to those of you who need a lift tonight.  Rach... big hugs to you, my friend.  I hope your surgery went really well.

Have a wonderful Tuesday.

Hugs

Jaydee

Paper Players 104 - LeAnne's theme challenge

Hi Everyone.  Happy Saturday.

LeAnne has a fabulous challenge for us this week.  I had SUCH fun with this challenge that I made two cards!

I love focusing on the sentiment in a card, but this time took it one step further.   Something got me thinking and I realized that when Lou is away, there is one thing in particular I miss.  It's not just Lou either, I realized that this particular "thing" could change someone's day.  Could make someone feel better.  Could lighten someone's mood.  I realized that it was something I missed about all the people I don't get to see too often.  Here's my card.

The image and the sentiment were created entirely in My Digital Studio.  I used punch shapes in MDS to create the circle for the smiley face - or in this case... the non-smiley face!   I also used circle punches for the eyes and just manipulated the image until I got the right shape, size and position.  It was so easy to do that I was really surprised.  I then typed the image up in MDS and printed them both out on my new printer.  All I had to do was use a circle die to cut out the face and my cutter to do the same for the sentiment.  

I backed the image with Night of Navy cardstock and adhered the face with snail.  The sentiment was adhered on either end with a little dimensional.  Really easy, really quick and I think appropriate!  What do you think?  I'd love to hear your thoughts on this.

We would love to see you playing along with us this week.  I know that you are all so creative and would love to showcase your favorite sentiments on a card... wouldn't you?  Yeah, you know you would :-)  Seriously, we'd love to have you play along!  So, pop along to the Paper Players and load your new creation on our challenge site.   In the meantime, check out the great design team cards.  They are all so different and I know you will find lots of inspiration.

Jen

Vicki

Dawn

LeAnne

Anne Marie

Ann

Amy

Helen

As always, thank you for visiting my little area of the stamping blogosphere.   Warm hugs and prayers for those who need a little lift tonight.

Hugs

Jaydee

Hand Scripted Birds of a Feather for ispysketches

Hi Everyone.  Happy Thursday.

I've been dying to use this particular sentiment, but hadn't found just the right sketch for it.  Well, the talented team across at ispy provided me with the perfect sketch!  Pammie... this one is for you my friend!

Here's the sketch and the inspiration card - isn't it awesome?

Well, I changed up the colors a little and used the new Raspberry Ripple.  I also wanted to play with my new Birds of a Feather DSP and new labels die from SU. Once I had the focal point finalized, I realized that the background needed a little texture, so pulled out my new Argyle embossing folder.  I put it all together and decided it needed one last little thing..... so I fussy cut a single bird from the DSP and put that on the sentiment.

Here's what I came up with... I think it is such fun and is perfect for Pammie - she really is THE best friend EVAH!

This card makes me smile looking at it... and it made me smile making it!  I love Raspberry Ripple and it works fabulously with Pink Pirouette.  This DSP is adorable.  If  you haven't checked it out, you should.

So, you know the drill by now.... pop along to ispy and check ou the fabulous design team and submission cards, I know you will find lots of inspiration.

On a personal note:

Today has been a long and rather trying day... you know... one of those days where you wish you hadn't gotten out of bed?  Work was particularly tough and my escape finally occurred at 7pm where I could come downstairs, relax, and do my blog update.  After this, I'm going to go upstairs and cook Rataouille for dinner.  A little time in front of the stove, with a glass of wine, some relaxing music, will help take the edge off the day.

One great thing about even bad days at work... the view from my office.  I thought I would share a couple of pics with you tonight.

Sorry about the reflection on this photo... but mamma heard me going into the office and decided to take her fawn into the long grass, I was lucky to even get this shot

I had to show you a photo of our nutty woodpecker drinking from the hummer feeder

I would never have thought that this ugly feeder would be the most popular thing we ever put up.  Today there were 7 orioles, 2 grosbeaks and a thrasher all competing to get to it.  However, I captured this serene shot of the bluebird

One last one.... the woodpecker and two orioles waiting to get to the sugar water!

I can't tell you how much being able to take a sneak peek at the feeders and the view does to calm my nerves and slow my pulse.... today I needed that and the view and the feeder didn't disappoint!

As always, thank you for spending time with me.   Warm hugs and prayers for those of you who need a little lift tonight.  I hope your Friday is fabulous!

Hugs

Jyadee

Card ingredients - all SU unless otherwise noted:

• Card stock:  Raspberry Ripple, Pink Pirouette, Whisper White.  Gingham (amuse studio)
• DSP:  Birds of a Feather
• Sentiment:  Hand scripted (Amuse Studio)
• Tools:  Big Shot.  Argyle Embossing Folder.  Tag Die
• Ink:  Raspberry Ripple

French Foliage for Retrosketches

Hi Everyone.

Quick post for you tonight.  I saw this great sketch across at retrosketches.  I decided that I wanted to try my hand at making a masculine card and the first set that came to mind was French Foliage... mmm.... I think it works.  :-)  Here's the sketch.

I recently bought the SU wood embossing folder and decided that it would be perfect as the horizontal layer for my card and work well with the leaves.  All that was left then, was to find a color scheme.  Well, that was pretty easy, too!

Here's what I came up with

I think the buttons, the colors, the wood embossing folder and the twine lend a masculine feel, or at least I hope it does.  The More Mustard really need a small border of Early Espresso to make it pop and also to tie to the browns used in the focal image and on the buttons.  Aren't these new SU buttons great?

I hope you will pop along to the retrosketches page and check out the fabulous design team and inspiration cards and I know that they would appreciate it if you played along one week!

As always, thank you for visiting my little area of the stamping blogosphere... I know I say this every night... but I REALLY do appreciate your visit and your comments.

Warm hugs and prayers for those of you who need a little lift tonight.  have a fabulous Thursday.

Hugs

Jaydee

Inspire for Cas-ual Fridays

Hi Everyone. Happy Tuesday.

Mmmm... Looks like I might need a butterfly intervention!

I saw a great challenge across at cas-ualfridays this week.   Text me.  So, use text as a major component in your card. 

I saw the challenge and knew immediately what I wanted to do.  I pulled out an old Memory Box collage stamp and got to work.

I first inked it up with black ink and stamped onto card stock.   I really needed the color of the butterfly to pop.  I then took my copic markers and colored the image.   I cleaned off my stamp and inked it up again using Pool Party ink - and used my black marker to highlight the word INSPIRE and then huffed and puffed on the stamp and stamped it onto Whisper White card stock.

I cut out my first butterfly, the one I had inked in black and fussy cut around it.  I wanted to have the butterfly wing stand proud of the base and left the outer part of the wing unglued.  Here's a closeup for you

All it needed was a little lift.  Here's a look at the whole card

I love Pool Party, it is such a cool refreshing color and is perfectly balanced with a little black and framed in white.  To make the color pop a little more, I matted the focal layer with a thin layer of Pool Party.  I was really pleased with the way it turned out.  I was tempted to add other things to it, but decided that the butterfly and the sentiment needed to be left alone :-)

I know the fabulous team across at cas-ualfridays would love you to pop along and check out the great design team and submission cards.  Lots of great inspiration for you there.

On a personal note:

Couple of photographs to share with you today.

I think the faeries have been visiting our front lawn!

Aren't they fabulous?

We have learned one thing living in our new home.   Never sit down on a chair without checking first!  Here's our new neighbor.... he's taken up residence in Lou's chair on the deck!  Luckily, I had pulled up the cushion to make sure it was dry, otherwise there would have been one very squished......

Well... I think he's a spring peeper... he has little toe pads and he's tiny and has an x on his back...but... as I am no expert in frogs, if anyone has a definitive idea of what he is... I'd love to know!  Whatever he/she is.... it has found a new home :-)

I couldn't resist this pic..... the deer grazing and our bluebird house - which is occupied by a wren!

I can't get over how the grasses have grown.. they are about 5 feet high.   We still love the stump and love watching what birds are using it.  We don't think it will last very long, but we intend to enjoy it whilst we can!

As always, thank you for visiting my little corner of the stamping blogosphere.  I really do appreciate your visits - and your comments.

Warm hugs and prayers for those of you who need a little lift tonight.  I hope your Wednesday is a day filled with love and laughter.

Hugs

Jaydee

 

 

Make a Cake for Moxie Fab World and Pals Paper Arts

Hi Everyone.  Happy Monday.

This weekend I actually got some time to sit down and make a couple of cards.  I needed a little inspiration to get my creative juices flowing and popped along to Moxie Fab World where the fabulous Cath is hosting a Stamp It! Thank You card challenge

and then popped along to Palspaperarts.  I saw this fabulous color combination and I knew I wanted to use it for my Thank You card....I just didn't know how!

It's a gorgeous, rich color scheme, but it took me a little while to work out how I was going to use it.  I looked at the butterflies in the Make a Cake stamp set, but they were just too small for what I had in mind.  Luckily, I remembered that I had the MDS version of Make a Cake.  Once I opened up MDS, I was ready to go as I was able to size the butterflies exactly as I wanted them.

It was really easy to create the background butterflies.  All I need to do was to get the first set the right size and then copy and paste the rest, positioning them so that they didn't connect with each other, or overlap.  All I had to do then was change the colors to either Early Espresso, Cherry Cobbler or Daffodil Delight.  Once I was happy with it, I printed it out and cut it to size.  Once again, I used a layer of vellum to soften the background a little.

I stamped the sentiment and adhered it to the butterfly base.  I then reached for my fabulous new SU butterfly punch and punched out a piece of Cherry Cobbler Patterns Pack DSP and then punched another in vellum.  I adhered the two together and added a couple of pearls to cover where the glue was on the butterflies.  I really needed a base for my butterflies and could have accomplished that with a punched out circle of Cherry Cobbler, but opted to use an old button I had instead.  The button gives just a little more height and is a perfect resting place for the butterfly.

I was really pleased with the card in the end and pleased that I had my MDS!  I really do like to use MDS for elements on my cards, but can never let go of actual glue, embellishments and getting dirty fingers from ink pads!

I know the talented team across at the Pals Paper Arts will love it if you pop along to their challenge blog and check out the fabulous design team cards - and play along, too!  You have to check out MoxieFabWorld and see the challenges that are going on right now - there are a couple of great challenges and you still have time to play in the Thank You card challenge, too!

On a personal note:

I woke up early on Sunday morning to the most amazing sunrise.  I still cannot get used to the expanse of sky that we get from our bedroom windows in the new house.   Even though it was REALLY early, and I was half asleep, I had to go downstairs and get my camera to take a few shots.

My poor camera was trying to focus on the fly screen - so forgive me for the fact that these pictures aren't the greatest.

Even Bailey and Sam decided they needed to appreciate such a glorious start to the morning!

I'd like to say a huge thank you to the team at retro sketches for giving a shout out to my butterfly card this week.  You can see the fussy cut butterfly card on this post. 

I always get such a kick out of having one of my creations selected!  I couldn't wait to play along with the great sketch this week, either.  But you will see that card in another post.

Linda... you asked what was in the sock like bag in this post.  That's the bag of nijyer thistle for the goldfinch.  Well, it's supposed to be for the goldfinch, but we discovered that one of the woodpeckers has also taken a liking to it!  Actually, the birds around here are doing some strange things.  The Bluebirds are nesting in a woodpecker box in the trees.  Right where they are NOT supposed to nest.  The woodpecker is eating the thistle and, if that isn't enough, we have a pair of woodpeckers who have developed a very sweet tooth and can be found drinking sugar water out of the hummingbird feeder!

Terri...you asked about the Toasted Marshmallow color - yep.. it is a Benjamin Moore color - and looks perfect as the accent wall in the master bedroom I can tell you! :-)

Jodi - thanks for the tip on the All Seasons Wild Bird Store - I need to go check them out!

Millie... I'm sorry about the heat and your tomato vines, but hope that you had a good time stamping with your friends.

As always, thank you for stopping by my little space in the stamping blogosphere.  I really do appreciate your visits and your comments.  I love reading them.

Warm hugs and prayers for those of you who need a little lift today.  LeAnne, prayers, too, for you, my friend.

Hugs

Jaydee

Stamp recipe - all ingredients Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted:

• Card stock:  Cherry Cobbler, Whisper White, Vellum
• Stamps:  Butterflies - Make a Cake Digital Stamp set.  Sentiment:  Amuse Studio
• Inks:  Early Espresso, Cherry Cobbler, Early Espresso
• Tools:  Butterfly punch
• Accessories:  Pearls (non-SU).  Button (non-SU)

Serene Silhouette for Paper Players 103 - Anne Marie's Color Challenge

Hi Everyone.  Happy Saturday.

Well, I have to tell you that I ran away from AM's color challenge this week :-) 

Anne Marie always manages to choose these fabulous bright, cheerful color challenges that match her wonderful bright and sunny personality.  This time, though, she chose a color that is one of my "aaaargh what do I do with THAT?" colors - Calypso Coral.  Also, Daffodil Delight is just a little too bright for my taste.  So, the two of them together really had me wondering what I was going to do :-)   Well, the whole thing about challenges is that they are meant to do exactly that - designed to take you outside your comfort zone.   In the end, I was so pleased that AM had pushed me!

I had two choices - embrace the Calypso Coral - or make the least possible use of it.  Generally, I try to confront it head on, this time, however, I decided to do the latter and focus on the fabulous Lucky Limeade instead.

I decided to play with a couple of my new goodies.  The Fancy Fan embossing folder, and the Serene Silhouettes stamp set.  All I needed was my SU markers and I was good to go. 

Here's what I came up with

I didn't have the right size Daffodil Delight ribbon, so I had to cheat a little and use Summer Starfruit ribbon for the top of my tag.

I really love the Fancy Fan embossing folder and this time decided to use the debossed side.  SU markers are the perfect thing for coloring intricate stamps like this and the Bitty Banners framelit and stamp set are the perfect size to fit across the tag.

We hope that you will join us this week and show us your summery creations using this fabulous color scheme.  Also, pop along and check out the amazing design team cards.  I know you will find something to inspire you.

Jen Arkfeld

Vicki Burdick

Dawn Easton

Anne Marie

LeAnne

Ann

Amy

On a personal note:

It's been 100 or close to it for almost a week and last night we had an amazing storm.  Lou and I sat out on the stoep and watched/listened to the storm for 30 minutes.  I am not kidding when I tell you that the thunder rumbled and the lightening shot across the sky for 30 full minutes - non-stop.  Only once during that time did we have sky to land lightening, the rest of it was sky to sky.  It was Mother Nature at her most wonderful.  We certainly didn't need fireworks - we had a display that surpassed any fireworks show.  It was truly awesome!  Behind the storm came the break that we needed from the heat.   The temperature dropped into the mid-80s just after the storm and felt cold!  It's an interesting time when mid-80s can feel cold!  Today, the temps stayed in the mid-80s and the humidity was fairly low.  It was a glorious day.

Lou has finished all the painting outside and has now started on the inside.  I know... it's a new house and we made all those color decisions already when we were building.   However, once you start to live in it, and start to decorate, you realize that some things just have to be changed.  Our new bedroom furniture is fabulous (well, what we have of it that has been received so far.... the bed doesn't arrive for another 5 weeks!)  Once we got the bedside tables and dresser in the room, I knew the wall behind the bed needed painting.  I decided that it should be the same color as the accent walls in the family room and great room.  It's a color called Toasted Marshmallow and it's a gorgeous color.  

Lou is now painting his study.  With his choice of the metal desk, it was really necessary to get away from the beige color.  So, he's currently painting his study the same color as the dining room - which is cool as the two rooms face each other.  The blue should really work well with the desk.  Yesterday we hung the mirror in the downstairs bathroom, unpacked more boxes and bought a 60" TV for the family room downstairs!  That was Lou's present for working so hard this week :-)  Actually, he wanted something much bigger than 60" but, seriously, do you really need a TV that big - never mind bigger :-)

As always, thank you for visiting my little area of the stamping blogosphere.  Warm hugs and prayers for those who need a little lift tonight.  Prayers, too, for Brenda, Jason and Evan - and you, too, LeAnne.

Have a fabulous Sunday.

Hugs

Jaydee

Kindness Matters for Retro Sketches

Hi Everyone.  Happy Thursday.  I hope you all had a wonderful 4th July!

I saw a great sketch across at retrosketches this week and was inspired to bring out some of my newly arrived goodies!   When I saw the six elements, I knew that I wanted to use my butterflies from Kindness Matters.  I colored them and then fussy cut each one of them before mounting them on the base.

Here's the sketch:

I loved the horizontal feel of the card, but my butterflies just didn't look right.  So, I decided that a little texture was in order!  After trying multiple backgrounds, I settled on the chevron stripes.  The horizontal feel was further enhanced by the new stitched ribbon.   Of course, I had to use my new favorite SU color of all time - Midnight Muse.

It was only after I had photographed the card that I realized I had not rounded the corners on the right hand side!  Well, it was a little to late for that :-)  I hope the talented team across at retro will forgive me.  I know they will love it if you popped along to their blog and played along with one of their challenges and checked out the great design team cards.

On a personal note:

Still boiling in this part of the world.  It was maybe a couple of degrees cooler today than yesterday, but still waaaaaay too hot for me.  The plants are really suffering as are the crops in the area.  This heat and no rain is certainly not good for the crops.  I'm hoping it's going to cool down soon and we are going to get some rain.

Lou's work on the concrete patios looks really good.  We are really pleased we decided to do it.  It was too hot to stain the concrete on the front stoep today, so we went shopping for storage units for the basement mechanical area instead.  Hopefully, we can now get the last of the boxes in the house packed away.  All that will be left then, is the garage!

We had a return visit from Gilbert the Groundhog.  Except, we discovered that Gilbert is actually, well ... feeding!  Consequently, Gilbert became GilbertA :-)  She's been checking out the area under the feeding station.

Want to know what was visiting the feeding station today? - Always one of my favorite visitors!

And this always makes me happy!

Jeanne.   So glad to hear that you have a new furry thing in the house!  I know the loss of Reba was very hard.  I also know how hard it is not to have something to greet you and love you unconditionally, so am so pleased that you have a new dog!  Congratulations.

Linda.... yep.. you were absolutely right about the bird on the feeder being the Grosbeak.  They have become constant visitors and I love watching them fly in and out with the flash of black and white wings.

Cherie, good to have you back and hear that you had a wonderful vacation!

Beth, if you can't find the Oriole feeder at Fleet Farm, let me know and we can always get one and send it to you.

Terri, I know what you mean about not having a grandma.  All children really deserve a grandma and I am sorry that your daughter hasn't been able to experience that, but she has a wonderful mother to make up for it!

Pammie... your chair is waiting.. still.... with a hairy thing on it :-)

As always, thank you to all of you for spending time in my little area of the stamping blogosphere.  I do appreciate your visits and really do enjoy reading your comments.

Warm hugs and prayers for those of you who need a little lift tonight.  Have a fabulous Friday!

Hugs

Jaydee

Card recipe:  all ingredients Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted.

• Card stock:  Whisper White, Midnight Muse
• Stamps:  Kindness Matters.  Sentiment: Sweet Essentials
• Tools:  Big Shot.  Chevrons Embossing Folder
• Inks:  Midnight Muse.  Butterflies colored with Copic markers
• Accessories:  Midnight Muse ribbon

 

Rejoicing with You for Stamping411

Hi Everyone.

Happy 4th!  I hope you had a truly wonderful day with your friends and family.

I saw a great sketch across at stamping411 today and knew exactly what I wanted to do with it the minute I saw it.

There is a wonderful set in the 2012 catalog that I immediately fell in love with.  I decided that it had to be embossed in gold and paired with my favorite DSP from last year's catty.

Isn't that a fabulous stamp?  I spent ages phaffing with this card as I couldn't get the background right.  I tried it with the polka dot embossing folder.  It really didn't look right.  I then tried distressing the polka dot folder with the Mahogany ink from the distressing set.  That didn't look right.  I tried popping her against an Early Espresso background... that really didn't look right.  Eventually I hit upon using the Wonderfully Worn background stamp with some Crumb Cake ink.  Yep!  That was what it needed.  Then I wasn't sure what to do with the sentiment.  I played around with different placements for that.  In the end I realized that I could use that as my horizontal element from the sketch.  

I love that the dots from the wonderfully worn echo the dots from the vertical DSP elements.  I popped the sentiment using Stampin' Dimensionals and did the same for the Angel.  In the end I was very pleased and really enjoyed playing with the sketch.   I know the talented operators would love you to pop along and visit their fabulous blog and creations.

On a personal note:

It's still REALLY hot.  It was 100 degrees at lunch time - heavens knows what it was with the heat index.  100 was the real temperature.  It was also the temperature that Lou decided was perfect for painting the concrete patio areas!  Yeah, and he did it at lunch time, too!  You know what they say about mad dogs and Englishmen?   Well, I'd say Australian/Italians are even nuttier :-)  The concrete patios do look great though.  In fact, we have decided that we need to do the stoep the same color!

Since we have been in the house, I have hardly needed an alarm in the morning.  The sun rising wakes me up every morning.  However, on Monday I woke up before the sun had risen and was met with the most amazing view over the wetlands.  Steam was rising from the ground and the wetland looked like a fairy land.  Take a look at what I mean.

Want to see what was visiting the feeding station yesterday?

The grosbeak, the catbird, the female grosbeak and a woodpecker!

Sorry about the quality of the next photo.. but I had to share this.  The Fleet Farm orange grape jelly station is like Heathrow Airport some days.   I saw 6 birds waiting to get their turn at the jelly.  Two of them had gone by the time I got my camera and took a shot.

Sally, I must admit, the feeding stations do prove to be a source of distraction - constantly.  In fact, I have had to position my desk looking into the wall so that I wouldn't be distracted all the time!

Pammie.... just wanted you to know that your bed is up in your room and ready for you.  Your chair, however, has been commandeered by Bailey!

As always, thak you so much for your visit.  I really do appreciate you taking the time - and leaving a comment.   Warm hugs and prayers to those who need a little lift tonight.

Hugs

Jaydee

Card recipe:  All ingredients Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted:

• Card stock:  Early Espresso, Very Vanilla, Gold metallic
• Stamps:  Rejoicing with You.  Sentiment:  Christmas Greeting.  Background: Wonderfully Worn
• Inks:  Early Espresso, Crumb Cake.  Gold Embossing Powder
• DSP:  Mocha Morning

 

Field of Flowers

Hi Everyone.  Happy Tuesday.

I hope you are all cooler than we are!  With the heat index it is somewhere between 105 and 112.  To be honest, I can't tell the difference between 105 and 112.  All I know is that it is about 50 degrees too warm for me.  Oh...yeah!  We were without airconditioning for two days, too.  We only got air back last night and it took 14 hours for the house to cool down.  Now, we are hot... but I know there are others who are hotter than we are, and there are those who were affected by the storms.  We hope you are all OK!

Before I show you my card tonight, I wanted to thank the fabulous team across at foryourinspiration for choosing this card as the pick of the week.  I was thrilled by this honor.  I loved the way the card turned out and was so pleased that they did, too!   You can still play along with the current challenge, so don't forget to pop along and check out the gorgeous photo.

I wanted to play around with a couple more of the new In Colors, so pulled out a non SU field of flowers stamp, inked it up using my markers and Gumball Green, Raspberry Ripple and Primrose Petals along with a couple of our existing colors. 

I decided that it needed a REALLY large sentiment.  In order to ensure that this card fit into a normal A2 envelope, I made the card narrower and let the sentiment hang over.

I am in love with Gumball Green!  It really is a cool color.  The new DSP that arrived today - Be of Good Cheer - has this combined with Cherry Cobbler and it is GORGEOUS.  I can't wait to play around with my new goodies this weekend.

On a personal note:

Lou and I have the rest of this week off.  We will finally be able to go buy some shelving for the back of the basement so that we can unpack the rest of our boxes.  We are also painting our concrete patios, putting up feeding stations, painting the bedroom and all sorts of other jobs that we have been waiting to do.  It's going to be really good to have a few days off work and just chill, relax and enjoy the house.

I have a couple of photos for you of the inhabitants of our little piece of paradise.  

I couldn't resist this shot.  It's just awesome.  Sorry the photo isn't that clear, but it was taken through the fly screen on the window!

So, we put up a woodpecker box.  It is supposed to appeal to 4 different types of woodpeckers and we made sure that it was placed exactly where it was supposed to be.  So, what do you think is nesting in the box?  A Hairy?  The Downy? A Flicker?  A redbellied?

Well.. you tell me... this is the strangest looking woodpecker I've ever seen!

Isn't that flash of blue awesome?   Here's a better view.

One last photo... what was visiting the feeding station?

As always, thank you for spending a little time in my area of the stamping blogosphere.  I really do appreciate your visits and your comments.

Warm hugs and prayers for those who need a little lift tonight.  If you are traveling for the 4th, travel safely.   Have a wonderful day with your family, friends, furry things and loved ones.

Hugs

Jaydee