Cottage Garden and Hello You for Retrosketches
11 June 2015
Hi Everyone. Happy Thursday.
Oh! I am so glad that it is almost Friday. I am really looking forward to the weekend and having some down time.
It's been a crazy week at home. From emergency visits to the vet lasting over 4 hours - until 2am! 2/3rds of my eyelashes falling out (don't ask!) and stuff going on in the wetland that I am so annoyed about, I can't even talk about it! So.. I am really looking forward to escaping to my craft room to spend some quality time with inks and paper and just switching off from the world. I don't know about y'all, but it really is my escape.
Anyway, I did escape this past weekend and managed to give some love to some new - and older - goodies.
I saw this great sketch across at retrosketches
Now, it has many more layers and elements than my cards generally do these days, and that's why I chose to create a card using it. To push myself a little!
I started with some new DSP - Cottage Garden from the 2015/2016 catalog. I love the colors on this particular sheet of the DSP. The two patterns actually come from the same sheet. The flower pattern is on one side and the more abstract pattern is on the other. I thought they were ideal for the sketch.
I die-cut a tag and the "hello" sentiment. The sentiment was die-cut three times so that I could layer them.
I then punched out three butterflies from the DSP and adhered them to the tag. I was really stumped for ribbon, mainly because I don't buy it anymore as I don't use it. I looked in my stash and realized that my old Baja Breeze ribbon was a perfect match!
Here's my card:
Now... I REALLY wanted those little butterflies to look as though they were floating over the tag, so I adhered the center with good strong adhesive, and the flipped the wings back. To keep the wings lifted, I squirted little round globs of Matte Medium underneath them and left them to dry nice and hard. Once they were dry, I pushed the wings back against them and they provided a nice little barrier to stop the wings going flat.
On a personal note:
Poor Bailey... he really has had a bad time of it recently. We've had Bailey for 8 years and we have never had to take him to the vet because he has been ill. However, whilst we were on our cruise, our wonderful cat sitter had to take him to the vet as he was straining to urinate. Luckily he wasn't blocked and they managed to fix the problem. Then.. this weekend, he didn't come to eat so I went looking for him. I found him covered in slobber and he was drooling terribly. Now, I've had cats long enough to know that drooling is not a good thing as it can be an indicator of some bad things; poisoning, liver failure, pancreatic failure, etc. So, I rushed him to the vet. We were there until 1.30 in the morning and had to go to our normal vet the next day.
The vet did blood tests, x-rays, etc. and - thankfully - nothing major. However, the outer third of his tongue looked as though it had been chemically burned. It was bright red, very inflamed, raw and looked terrible. A reaction to food, or something he licked. We aren't sure what caused it, but that's the reason he couldn't close his mouth, which led to the drooling, and why he wasn't eating. The vet gave him some really good pain meds and within a couple of hours the pain had subsided enough that he was able to eat some high calorie food. Getting him to eat was the #1 thing we had to do. Because of the way cats metabolize, they cannot go long without food otherwise their organs fail! Luckily... he ate and hasn't stopped since! What did Bailey do through all of this... he purred and purred and purred and purred. He really is just amazing!
A new plant popped up in our woodland.. well the really wet part of the woodland. It's still too early for most of our plants to flower.... but we noticed some bright purple had suddenly appeared. If you look closely in this photo you will see that everything is green..... but.... look really carefully and - there in the shadow of the tree - purple!
Can you see it? How about a close-up?
Aren't they beautiful? Wild Iris! We couldn't believe it. We have at least two plants and hope we will get more! I love Iris, they are some of my favorite flowers, however they last so little time in a vase - so I have decided to leave them where they are growing so that I get to enjoy them for longer. Oh! and the deer have left them alone!
Our pileated seem to have a baby... I haven't managed to get a photo of them feeding it yet.... but I have heard it crying for food!
I never, ever, ever get tired of these guys. They are amazing!
I'll be back tomorrow with another card. In the meantime, warm hugs and prayers for those of you who need a little lift tonight.
Hugs
Jaydee
Card recipe - all ingredients Stampin' Up!
- Cardstock: Whisper White Thick
- Stamps: Crazy for You
- DSP: Cottage Garden
- Tools: Hello You Thinlets. Bitty Butterfly punch
I feel your pain Jaydee. I also have a kitty named Bailey and for the last month he's had issues straining when in the litterbox. Luckily it wasn't a blockage but he's been back and forth with medication trying to fix the issue. He's now on prescription food and hopefully he'll be back to his old self soon. I'm so glad that you were able to figure out the problem with YOUR Bailey and pray that he's getting better. And I can't leave without telling you how wonderful this card is. I love that you punched butterflies out that pretty DSP and arranged them around the die cut sentiment on your tag. Fabulous!
Posted by: Jen Mitchell | 11 June 2015 at 08:20 PM
Jaydee your card is fabulous! Love the colors of the new papers and the big, bold sentiment. Plus your bow is perfect.
Poor Bailey. Happy to hear he is doing better, but I wonder what ailed him. I didn't know about the drooling thing with cats. I know he's in good caring hands. I think I always learn something about animals and nature when I visit your blog. Thank you!
Posted by: Sandy M | 11 June 2015 at 10:00 PM
Grateful to hear Bailey is recovering and eating well, always a good sign. I hope you get a chance to catch your breath and unwind a bit this weekend. I cannot tell you how many times your closing sentence has comforted me when I've needed it. Just a few words, something very simple but I always felt like you were saying the words directly to me. Hope you don't mind if I repeat them back to you, "In the meantime, warm hugs and prayers for those of you who need a little lift tonight." Sounds like you could use a little lift with some hugs and prayers. Consider yourself hugged. Thank you for always sharing your beautiful cards with us.
Posted by: Joan | 12 June 2015 at 12:05 AM
Love the card, Jaydee. I have the Hello You thinlet and am really enjoying using it. So useful.
As always, your nature photos make me jealous. Those wild irises are so gorgeous. Having a pileated woodpecker around is special enough, but to have baby(ies) must be incredibly exciting.
I hope the wetland 'stuff' resolves soon.
Posted by: Linda Rodgers | 12 June 2015 at 12:10 AM
First up; my thoughts and prayers go out to you along with Big Hugs as well and wishing that Bailey gets to feeling better real soon.
“Hope is important because it can make the present moment less difficult to bear. If we believe that tomorrow will be better, we can bear a hardship today.” Just have faith, hope and trust in the Lord and He will help you through the storm.
Beautiful card.
You take care and hope tomorrow brings a better day for you.
Thanks for sharing your lovely photos with us. Always a joy seeing them.
Wishing you and Lou a wonderful and relaxing weekend. Thoughts and prayers are with you.
Posted by: ColleenB. | 12 June 2015 at 05:16 AM
I agree with Joan, you need a hug and good wishes too...so here they are! Have a great weekend with Lou and the kitties.
Note, please my new email addy...I get your blog there now and still love it! Cards and nature are a winning combination. Cyber hugs to you.
Posted by: Jeanne | 12 June 2015 at 11:10 AM
You have had quite a time! However, on the bright side, Bailey is better, the pileateds have a baby, and your wetlands graced you with a wild iris! I would say those are pretty good paybacks! Your card today is one of my favorites! Gorgeous colors, texture, dimension, and composition. Hugs and prayers from me to you and Lou and Bailey! Nancy B
Posted by: Nancy Baxter | 12 June 2015 at 11:32 AM
Jaydee, your card is SO beautiful...you may have enabled me to purchase that DSP!! And such a scary incident with your beautiful Bailey! I'm so glad you were able to diagnose and get him treated quickly!
Posted by: Shannon Jaramillo | 12 June 2015 at 04:20 PM
i love the card jaydee!!! it is beautiful!!! thanks for playing along with us over at retro sketch!!
Posted by: jeni allen | 13 June 2015 at 02:41 AM
I love, love your wildlife pictures. Every time I open one of your blogs, after viewing the wonderful cards, I scroll down to see the pictures of your wetlands/wildlife.
Posted by: Cyndie S. | 13 June 2015 at 08:31 AM
So sorry to hear about Bailey! He is such a regal creature. I'm sure it crushed his ego to be found in such a compromised and undignified state. I do hope he is all recovered and does not have a recurrence. Hugs! Brenda
Posted by: Brenda F | 16 June 2015 at 10:00 AM
Catching up on my blog reading today. So glad to hear that Bailey is doing much better!
Posted by: Mary Frances | 16 June 2015 at 03:17 PM