Stampin! with Jaydee

 Hi Everyone.  Happy Saturday.

It's the fabulous Bonnie's turn to host our Addicted to CAS Challenge this week and she has a code word that is right up my alley!

Well..... that is one code word that I couldn't wait to use!   I love butterflies.  They really do stir up so many emotions in me and remind me of the freedom of childhood summers.  When the sun always seemed to shine (even when it was pouring with rain!), when buttercups shone like little yellow suns almost the grass and when the world just seemed to be a wondrous place to explore.  Butterflies were everywhere then.... now, sadly, they seem to be the exception rather than the norm.

There has been much talk in the news about the loss of the Monarchs and I decided that I would use the Stampin' Up! Butterflies Thinlets and some distress inks to create my own Monarch card.  I wanted to help celebrate these amazing butterflies and - hopefully - to encourage anyone who has a little space to plant some flowering plants that can be used by butterflies to hopefully provide some help for the butterflies... if you live in the Monarch Corridor, you can read this link to see how you can help the Monarchs.  If you don't live in the Monarch Corridor, you can still plant non-toxic floors to help all butterflies and pollinators.  (check for the use of insecticides neon's which are one of the major causes of the loss of bees, butterflies and other pollinators.   Every little plant helps!

After all, what would summer be without these amazingly colourful and happy-inducing creatures? :-)

Here's my take on the code word:

I die-cut three of the butterflies from the Butterflies thinlets  using Basic Black card stock.  I then die-cut another one using masking paper and used that as a mask for my Distress Inks.  Once the inking was completed, I used Matte Multi-Medium to adhere just the middle of the die-cut butterflies, leaving the wings to float above the inked areas.    I then used my paper cutter to remove any of the wings that were hanging over the card base.   I then mounted the front panel onto a Pumpkin Pie base and stamped the sentiment in Memento Black.

I hope that you will join us at Addicted to CAS.  The winner of this challenge will win a fabulous prize of a $10 prize from our fabulous sponsor

It's also the first challenge for our very talented guest designer Flo.  You can check out her blog for more inspiration at this link.

On a personal note:

We have water in our wetland... it might not be as much as last year - but enough that we have two mother Mallards looking after their babies.  One has 9 little babies and the other has 3 much older babies.  They are amazingly protective of their babies and we are lucky when we catch a glimpse of them.

I tried to take a photo of the mother with her bigger babies.... however... she get them into the long grass before I could do so.... so.. I was left with just a photo of mommy!  I promise you there were 3 babies there :-)

I managed to find three new cattail feeders - these are much taller than the other ones we had.  The goldfinch LOVE them.  I tried to get a photo of them but, as I was taking the photo through the window, it's really fuzzy..... but they love the new feeders even more than they do the shorter ones.

We generally have a minimum of 3 and up to nearly a dozen on the feeders.  They love them and they provide lots of amusement for the cats :-)

Except for Charlie.... who gets tired watching the birds and finds a comfortable place to take a nap on the back of the couch.

I'll be back tomorrow with my Paper Players card, in the meantime, warm hugs and prayers for those of you who need a little lift tonight.

Hugs

Jaydee

Card recipe:

• Cardstock:  Basic Black. Whisper White.  Pumpkin Pie
• Inks:  Tim Holtz Distress Inks
• Die:  Butterflies Thinlets - Stampin' Up!