Swan Inspiration

The swan pictures above were taken last weekend.  I seem to have had better success that day with that camera.  I'll explain later.

I had found a box recently of  paper "stuff" I was saving to do something with.  It included a couple of postcard advertisements we picked up at the flower show and a sheet that I printed out of swans for some long forgotten Christmas project (I think).  Anyway, they came together on this card below and I added a few of the rolled flowers that I had left from my chair cushion tags.

I couldn't decide on the backdrop as the card has a black base.

This picture was taken yesterday, however, this camera does not have a viewfinder, only a view screen and I find that it's difficult to get it to focus on things that are in the close distance like the swans.  I tried tricking it by moving the camera at the last minute, but apparently I will need more practice.

They were sitting together in the same spot that we saw them last week and when I attempted to get a little closer they decided they'd had enough of me and began to get in the water.  It was then that we noticed that one of them was limping which is probably why they were where they were.  Swans mate for life and the uninjured one will stay with the injured one to protect them however they can.  I don't know male from female in this instance, but I hope that the injured one will recover.

July 15 - What's on the Coffee Table

Our prompt today was What's on Your Coffee Table.  These two lighthouses are on the coffee table at the condo and they both light up.  It's been a busy day but a gorgeous one.  Until tomorrow.

7-14 What You Wore

Gonna get a haircut after work today and the evening will be a busy one so I'm posting this early.  I'm sure no one wants to see a pile of clothes, especially after a haircut!

July 13 - Beverage

McDonald's caramel frappe.  With lighting courtesy of HWNSNBP I should mention.  Actually, drink and lighting courtesy of HWNSNBP.   I couldn't get a picture without a shadow so he said "wait a minute" and came over with the flashlight and made it a spot! 

This would be one of my favorite cold drinks of the summer.  The other would be a healthier choice.  A strawberry lemonade created by adding 6 large frozen strawberries to a Costco 5-calorie lemonade in the blender. 

Jingle Belles 28 - Holiday Leftovers

As you might be able to tell from the title, the prompt for this week was to use leftovers (aren't these ladies clever with their prompts!).  Well, there is no shortage of leftovers here in the Stamp Sauna (which the Stamp Castle has been renamed for the duration of the summer or until I get HWNSNBP to commit to an air-conditioner!). 

I dug through my scrap box hoping to find something that had been punched, stamped, colored, or whatever, and boy did I get lucky.  I found something that had been stamped, colored AND punched.  So then I dug through the pile of Christmas dsp that I have accumulated and came up with a scrap that I punched my squares out of.  Put them onto the red scallop die cut background, and put that on a base of Soft Suede cs.  The ornament blended in too much just on top of the squares, so I trimmed down a paper doily to put behind it. 

Then I checked the ribbon scrap jar that I have and found what I needed there for the bow and the hanger.  The last touch was the little cardinal.  I had some of them stamped on a strip of white cs so I cut one of them out to add to this card.

Fun challenge!  I'm going over now to see how much fun everyone else had with this - you can check for yourself by clicking here.

July 12 - What Makes You Smile

What made me smile today - freshly polished toenails. 

It was not a particularly good day.  Frustrating work day and then I took a wrong turn coming home from the doctor where I didn't get very good news.  I ran out of checks over the weekend and forgot to put a new batch in the check book so I was lucky to have the $30 co-pay on me for the doctor.   But, that meant no shopping afterwards even if it was only the dollar store where I refuse to use a credit card for a purchase under $10.  So I decided to go home the back way but I didn't know that there was a detour.  For some reason I thought the detour sign would take me out of my way so I turned the opposite direction which brought me out to the main highway again, but I could only turn going the wrong way.  There was a turnaround at the next light and a WAWA on the corner so I decided to stop and pick up something to nibble on on the way home as I hadn't eaten since lunch time.  I found a chocolate covered pretzel rod that only cost 33 cents, but I couldn't get the wrapper off while I was driving.  Finally, I got a little lucky and had to stop at a light so I was able to unwrap the pretzel.  It's been hot and sticky and I needed to finish my Jingle Belles card so I went up to what I'm now referring to as the "Stamp Sauna" and got my card done and then went for a quick dip in the pool.... bringing me back to the toenails.  For whatever reason, they made me smile!

Teapot Tuesday 154

There's something very appealing to me about the colors of this teapot.  It wouldn't go with anything I have, but I really like the design.  Here's the story to go with it. 

I just realized that I did not use any stamps for this yet.  I did use a flower embosslet and the petal punch for the leaves and bee.  Some punched scalloped borders and lacy border. 

The bee was make by trimming one of the petals that was punched out.  Even the vellum wings were part of this punch. 

Okay, I'm fading fast here so I'll be off to go check out the gallery.  Join me by clinking here.

(ETA - So tired I forgot to publish this post!) 

July 11 - Something You Made

When I saw the prompt for today I knew that I shouldn't have any trouble finding something to take a picture of.  I had planned to have something new though.  This weekend I started two more of these magic balls, both slightly larger and in two shades of blue, but I did not get them finished yet.  HWNSNBP wanted to know why I was making more of these balls and I told him that when they're all done I plan to hang them.  Hopefully I'll be sharing that soon.

July 10 - Pink and Orange Together

I started with the tin I had and stuffed it with pink and orange tissue paper.  Then I took it outside to photograph.

I noticed that HWNSNBP had left his scissor on the wall as he was bundling the cardboard for recycling tomorrow.  Then I remembered that I had some pink and orange ribbon somewhere.

I wrapped the ribbon around the scissor and placed it on the hood of the car to take the second round of pictures.

Then I dropped the spool of ribbon on the driveway. 

I couldn't make my mind up which to choose so I added them all here.  I'll be posting the second photo in the Flickr pool.

Earlier this morning we were on a bike ride (no falls today - YEAH!) and I thought this might fit in with the swan's orange beak and the loosestrife, but the loosestrife is too purple. 

Which do you think is the most "artistic"?

For All You Mycologists Out There

The Elf and the Dormouse

UNDER a toadstool crept a wee Elf,
Out of the rain to shelter himself.
Under the toadstool, sound asleep,
Sat a big Dormouse all in a heap.
Trembled the wee Elf, frightened and yet	5
Fearing to fly away lest he get wet.
To the next shelter—maybe a mile!
Sudden the wee Elf smiled a wee smile.
Tugged till the toadstool toppled in two.
Holding it over him, gaily he flew.	10
Soon he was safe home, dry as could be.
Soon woke the Dormouse—"Good gracious me!
"Where is my toadstool?" loud he lamented.
—And that's how umbrellas first were invented. Oliver Herford

Last Monday HWNSNBP and I took a bike ride on the bike path in Barnegat.  I was reminded of the poem above that I had memorized as a child.  These are pictures of mushrooms that we saw growing along the pathway.  I don't know much about mushrooms, but these all appeared to be different, or at least in different stages of growth and they were fairly large as we were able to see them while pedaling.  I imagine that there were other smaller varieties too. 

July 9 - Summer Necessities

The plants are a necessity.   And if you're going to have plants, you need potting soil.  Of course tools are necessary to plant the plant, but don't forget the gloves.  I prefer lightweight gloves that are rubberized on the palms and fingers.   It takes my fingernails a little longer to penetrate the rubber treated fingers and I feel a little more confident when pulling weeds.   Last week I think I got a little bit overconfident and was pulling poison ivy in the raspberry patch.  I don't know why I bothered because we hadn't put any bird netting up and the bluejays decimated the berries before we could pick any.  And because we let the weeding go so long the poison ivy was rather abundant and large and let's just say that my hands were spared, but my arms - not so much.  (I had put on long pants but not a long-sleeved shirt.  I know - pretty dumb.)

I'm a real mess in fact.  I fell twice last weekend getting off my bike and have a skinned knee and some pretty colorful bruises, then I caught the edge of something sharp in the supply room at work which added another large scrape and bruise, and today I was attacked by the lid of the vacuum cleaner.  Add those bruises and scrapes to the poison ivy patches and like I said - a mess. 

But hopefully all will be healed by the end of the summer!

July 8 - Sky

While it was mostly overcast this morning and not conducive to picture-taking, the day became very wet.  An hour-and-a-half in the car and I thought I'd better capture some sky before it got too dark.  Could've used one of those sunsets from the other day - oh well!

Fourth of July Bird Party

This is what we woke up to on July 4th.

Thank You - End of School Year Gifts

Well, now that these have all gone postal I thought I'd post the thank you's that I made for the people who gave me end-of-the-year gifts.  Though these gifts are really not necessary, they are appreciated so I just like to send a little note letting them know how very sweet they've been to think of me. 

I was blessed with several plants, both for the garden and the office, a beautiful bouquet of flowers that was shared with a friend, candy, memo pads, a gift card to a local eatery, a pin, some yummy Italian baked goods, a new tea to try, and our office was treated to a lunch, complete with pastries from a local deli. 

The stamps are from the set Touch of Kindness from the Summer Mini.  I kept the layout simple because I had a about a dozen of them to do.  I added Crystal Effects to the water droplets on the bird bath to give them the appearance of wetness.  The image was colored with SU markers and I sponged around the edges of the image panel.  The card base was stamped repeatedly with the "thank you" stamp from the set in both VersaMark and Bashful Blue ink. 

July 7 - Bright Colors

I went to put something in the supply room today and this is what I found.  Aha!  What a perfect combination of bright colors for today's prompt.  I returned to the office to get my camera and then spent the next couple of hours unpacking boxes and stocking the shelves with supplies that were sent over from our sister school that closed it's doors on July 1.  This looks to be the remnants of a party.

Teapot Tuesday 153

Well, maybe it's Teapot Thursday this week.  It was a combination of the holiday weekend and not having a clue as to what to do with this teapot.  I scoured my stash before we left for the weekend and did not come across anything I felt suitable.  Then while we were away, I did a couple of the usual stops at places where I thought I might find some inspiration, but none was found.  Finally, I remembered that somewhere I had a bag of golf tees and the search was on.  It took me a while and I did come across some things I had forgotten about that I hope to use in the near future as well as being able to purge some stuff.  And, let me add that this is not exactly what I had envisioned, but here you have it...............

Ooops, I forgot to give the link to the Teapot post - click here - and then of course, the gallery - click here.

The images on my card are both from Inspired by Nature.  I thought the sentiment fit along with the golf theme as it mentions links - that's a stretch, I know.  "Good Works are links that form a chain of love." - Mother Teresa.  But I do feel that these words encompass the teapotters.  There are a lot of good works going on and they certainly have linked us all together.

July 6 - Sweet

Do you like Tastykake Butterscotch Krimpets?  Do you like peanut butter and chocolate?  Well, these sweet treats are a combination of both.  They're a limited edition of Peanut Butter and Chocolate Krimpets and they're yummy!

Jingle Belles 27 - Stars and Stripes

Actually that should be Stars OR Stripes, but I decided to go with both on this card.  It's a holiday week and we're celebrating with our Patriotic Stars and Stripes so why not use that for our Christmas card this week.  I found this SU dsp - unused - in my stash and put this together with some star punches and the MS fern punch.  The colors are very subtle, but in real life it looks really pretty. 

I can't believe that we are up to week 27 already.  It doesn't seem to be that far, but when I look into my box of cards I am very happy that I will not be scrambling as I usually do in November/December to get them made and posted before Christmas.  I will venture a guess that HWNSNBP will be happy about this also.  He quite looks forward to seeing what I've come up with each week - at least he says he does. 

I got one of my Christmas books that I usually order each year - the Gooseberry one, and I think I might actually have time to make some of the stuff in there this year!  I'll have to pull out some of the back issues and start making some plans for gifts. 

Okay, let's go check out the other Stars or Stripes cards for this week here.

Sunsets - Untouched

Above - July 2nd

This is from the evening of July 4th - untouched.  I have never seen the sky so pink - it actually had a red streak later like I have never seen, but it was too dark to capture. 

July 5 - In My Refrigerator

Strawberries, blackberries, Queen Anne Cherries (a splurge, but one of my favorites), raspberries,  and blueberries. 

July 4 - Red, White and Blue

Found a cute little antique shop yesterday and got some treasures.  A milk glass cake stand, a cobalt blue chubby vase, and an old hanky with red, white, and blue hand crocheted trim.  (Got some other stuff too, but it's not rwb!)  And then we picked up some milk chocolate covered pretzels today also decorated RWB for the holiday today. 

Hope everyone has a wonderful evening!  We'll be sitting on the balcony people watching until the fireworks start.  Happy 4th!

Happy Fourth of July

These will be hard to come by some day - mark my words.  Already some paper companies are featuring toilet tissue rolls without the cardboard tubes.  What will mothers of toddlers, nursery school teachers, scout leaders, and many other crafters do without them! 

When my children come to visit now and open up the linen closet in either bathroom, they will find my "stash".  It's not yet overtaken anything but it was about time to use some of them in a project. 

These are supposed to be representative of firecrackers.  Of course, they would have been much more realistic with a fuse of some sort coming out, but I was in a hurry as usual. 

There is a non-food treat inside the tubes which are just wrapped in blue tissue paper and tied with a red bow and tag stamped with the 4th of July stamp set.  The star is stamped and punched out and then just quickly glued to the front. 

Today's photo prompt is red, white, and blue and though this project is, I have something else planned for later!

July 3 - Where You Went Today

Where I went today - to the beach to visit with some friends.  During dinner a storm rolled in.

After the storm.

What a treat from Mother Nature and a lovely visit with our friends.

July 2 - Passion

Something I'm passionate about - bluebirds!  Ah, but they're not there right now.   I have heard them singing in the morning outside the house, but I have not seen one since the clutch fledged in early June.  This is the nest box in the garden and how it looked today.  The red bee balm is in full force and there are some black-eyed Susan's beginning to bloom.  Uh oh!  I see a gooseneck - darn, I thought I got rid of all of that very invasive plant.  More to the right there are some purple, pink, and white rudbeckia blooming as well as some blue balloon flowers and some spikes of liatris. 

July 1 - Breakfast

I've decided to participate in a photo challenge this month.  I came across it here - kandeland - well, actually I was nudged over there by a post from another blog I've been following - Kids Napping? I'm Scrapping! .   I'm going to see how I like having a prompt to think about and coming up with a picture every day. 

Unfortunately, by the time I had seen this today I had already eaten my breakfast at work during my morning break like I usually do, but, I thought I could pack my breakfast for tomorrow today as I usually have just about the same thing anyway. 

This is the breakfast of a 56-year-old woman who is watching her weight (heh, heh!), has some digestive issues, and likes a quick meal.  All too much information I'm sure.  I'll try not to do that for the whole month!

Quaker Oats True Delights instant Hazelnut Latte oatmeal with 2 spoonfuls of ground flax.  Fresh raspberries and bottled peach  slices (fresh later in the season), and a large cup of Chai Latte.   If you're counting points on Weight Watchers, I figure it at 7. 

Jingle Belles 26 - Order of the Opus Gluei - Tagging Along

If ever I cut a corner close it was with this challenge today.   I've been home for the past couple of days, taking it easy after a second cortisone injection in my lower back, hoping that maybe this will help it to work this time, and though there's not much big stuff I can do, I've been getting over involved with the little stuff and losing all track of time.  I knew basically what I wanted to do, and I actually got it done in what I thought would be enough time, then the computer decides to do a crash dump on me and by the time I went to upload on the JB site there were 0 mins. left to add my link.  I think someone must have been on my side - every second counts.

Anyway, enough excuses I know, and let me get to the challenge.  The title of the challenge is Lonely This Christmas - aka Tagging Along and you guessed it, probably by the picture above, that not one, but two items were part of this.  A card and a tag.  And this challenge is Tagging Along with that of the Order of the Opus Gluei.  What fun!

First let's start with the card.  I used a Poppy Parade base and added a Top Note and embossed panel in the new Lucky Limeade.  My color inspiration came from the embellishment that I'll get to in a bit.  I punched out a Poppy Parade bird and made it into a cardinal and added that to a large oval punched in white.

The tag on the box uses another oval white punch and the punched out medium oval from making the handle on the box.  (I didn't emboss the back of the box due to time, but if I did, I would have used that embossed piece on the card - oh well!).  The tag is tied on with some Whisper White ribbon.

Now the embellishment is a mish-mosh of some of the things that I had flapping around on my workspace.  I say flapping around because the Stamp Castle is not air-conditioned and I have a fan that blows everything about a bit.  It's almost comfortable, a little noisy, and sometimes a hassle catching things that are blowing around.  

The little rosette is made from a paper doily that I cut the center out of and then scrunched around the edges of a circle dot of red-line tape.  (I get mine from Jody in Texas.)  Then I did the same with a mini-cupcake liner.  There you can see where the colors came from.  The center is a punch out left when I made some candle holders with the daisy die out of an aluminum tray. They were too cool to toss.

What will I put in the little bag.  Well, there's all sorts of possibilities. I could put a few chocolates, or some flavored tea bags, or even a small package of tissues. 

Okay, gotta go and finish cleaning and then check out the others here and here.

Tickle a Teapotter - May

A relatively new feature of our Teapot Tuesday Challenges is the addition of the Tickle A Teapotter Destination on the last Tuesday of the month.  We get to decide if we want to particpate by letting Cindy, our hostess know and then after about a week she assigns us a fellow teapotter to send our card to.  Sometimes we add stamped images or small tokens to go along with the cards that we send out.  It makes it ever so much more fun and shows how much we care about each other. 

My card this month came from Charlene in Michigan, who goes by the screen name LilLuvsStampin on SCS.  If you click on her highlighted name above I've linked into her extensive and inspiring gallery.  She is extremely talented and I'm so lucky to have her included in my teapot friends!

I love this saying and of course the bird and flowers are awesome. 

And these are the goodies she sent along with the card (those cardstock pieces are all embossed).  I can hardly wait to put them to good use! 

Thanks Charlene - you really made my day month!