Another 60th....................

Means another seasonal tree card.  I had an extra set of the square seasons already done so this should have gone a lot quicker than it did.  But then I decided to get a little involved with the background.

I took three inkpads - So Saffron, Wild Wasabi, and Marina Mist - and smeared them on my largest acrylic block.  Then I actually found my little spritzer on my work table (no small feat) and spritzed the inks.  Then I smushed the block, ink-side-down onto a sheet of Whisper White cs.  (This was actually the second try.)  I let that dry while I grabbed a handful of different green cardstocks and die cut a bunch of leaves.  

I skewed the tree squares across the length of the panel, popping up the fall one and I was able to slide those leaves under the squares.

The card base is Lucky Limeade which I think helped blend all those green leaves together nicely.

Tonight I was cleaning up my work table a little and decided to put that first experimental panel to use.  I had the other half-sheet of Lucky Limeade for the base and took a stencil that I had and sponged some So Saffron and Marina Mist ink lightly over the stencil to give the base some interest.

I attached the smashed ink panel and then added a strip of IKEA washi tape.  The leaves were some of those that I didn't use for the first card and the flowers are a new die set from Essentials by Ellen.  I added a few iridescent blue sequins and stamped the sentiment from Butterfly Basics.   Most of the time I leave off the sentiment if I don't have a specific event I'm making the card for, but this one is pretty generic and I'll be able to use if for just about anything.  

It was a crazy week for us last week.  A tree split in half late Tuesday night and took out our little bridge on the side of the house, but thankfully missed the house.  Thank goodness our neighbor heard it happen and he also helped HWNSNBP cut up and get most of it out of the driveway that night so we could get to work in the morning.  Then the next night our washing machine decided to call it quits.  

But we attended the party for the newest 60-year-old on Saturday and had a splendiforous time.  And on Sunday, HWNSNBP and I actually went for a bike ride - the first one I've been able to do since last year about this time.  Although it was quickly heating up and getting humid, it felt good to "have the wind in my face" and it was HWNSNBP who wanted to call it quits first.  He said his butt was sore from the bicycle seat, and I'll give him that.  And he does have to do all the work with the bikes and the bike carrier, so he had to work harder in that heat.  I'm looking forward to more bike rides soon.