Good Day Sunshine

I've wanted to try my hand at gardening for a long time. 'Square Foot' gardening is all the rage so my dear husband set aside all of his hobbies to design and build beautiful cedar boxes. I had so much fun planting my seeds and watching my flowers and vegetables grow. Then the hard part started.... keeping everything growing and alive. I read about companion planting. I planted parsley with the beans and radishes with the tomatoes. I even did a take on the '3 sisters'. Alas, there is not a leaf on my bean plants and the beans themselves are riddled with holes. My beautiful tomatoes (6 different types) were devoured in the blink of an eye by some sort of scary caterpillar that I'm convinced is going to take over the world. And my wonderful mixed box of corn, beans, melons and pumpkins became the breeding ground for these...RABBITS. Did I mention my loving husband had a fence built around my garden to keep varmints out? Summer is almost over. I've pretty much given up on my garden for the year. As for the darn rabbits, I actually became fond of them. I found myself leaving freshly pulled radishes and carrots by their bed. To make a long story short, that is the inspiration for this card.

The stamps are from My Favorite Things. I had never used them before but after seeing all of the fabulous cards Sherrie Siemens creates with them on her blog Card Creme, I decided to give them a try. I love them. The designs are so cute with adorable sayings. Oh, and because a lot of the designs are headless, I can even imagine I look that good while gardening. My card is made from a combination of three different sets: In My Garden Jolinne, Who's That Gardening Girl & Can Ya Dig It. I colored the images with Prismacolor pencils and the paper is Crate Paper.

Thanks for visiting. May all your gardens grow.

Stampendous Saturday Sketch Challenge Week 20 Back To School

It's that glorious time of year...that time when the kids go back to school. Which just so happens to be the theme for this week's Stampendous Challenge. I haven't played for a while so I made a couple of entries. My son's school has a brand new two-story round library so I used that as inspiration for my first card. Our head librarian is the most wonderful person. She truly inspires the kids and makes them thirsty for more and more books. This one's for you Mrs. Schlosser.

My "Love to Read" card was made using the Stampendous stamp sets: School for Changito SSC190(sentiment), School for Max SSC675 and Book Border SSC259. I also used: Kid Power Offray ribbon, Derwent watercolor pencils, Gamsol, Memento ink in Tuxedo Black and Hero Arts Shadow Ink in Soft Stone. The paper is from Hero Arts and My Mind's Eye (Abby Road).

My second card is a little mini card for my son, just something to tuck in his backpack. Hopefully it will make him smile when he finds it sometime during the day. I just can't believe my baby's starting third grade. He truly is an amazing child and in my opinion, definitely the bestest!

For my "You're the Bestest" card I used:the following Stampendous stamp sets: Chalkboard SSC241, Hugs for All SSC1052(sentiment) and School for Changito SSC190. I also used Stampendous white embossing powder PEK02 to highlight my sentiment on the chalkboard. Other supplies include Derwent watercolor pencils, Gamsol, Memento Tuxedo Black ink and Bazzill paper.

Thanks for visiting and may all of you moms with little ones enjoy this wonderful time of the year!

Cards for Kids: A Fish Joke

Here's another great opportunity to put a smile on some one's face: Cards for Kids. Please visit Jennifer McGuire's Blog to learn how you can send cards to seriously ill children and their families. Currently, there are 13 children listed that would be happy to receive a cute card with a loving message inside. You can even send cards to their siblings, who I'm sure could use some encouragement and love as well. Jennifer has made it easy for us to spread some cheer. When finishing your next scrapbook page, please consider making a card with your leftover supplies.

My Fish Joke card was made using the Hero Arts Oceans of Joy stamp set CL372. I stamped the image in Memento Tuxedo Black ink and colored it with Copic Markers (G20, G40, B00, B02, B12, BG000). I highlighted areas with Spica twinkle pens and then diecut & embossed the image with Spellbinders Nestabilities Standard Circles Large Die S4-114. I don't want anyone to lose sleep so here is the punchline...Because pepper makes them sneeze. Hardee har har! A cheesy joke will make anyone smile. If you would like to add a joke or two to the cards you are going to make, check out Ducksters. This website has some great children's jokes posted.

Here's something that I guarantee will put a smile on your face. This was posted recently on Bobby McFerrin's Facebook page. Good Lovin' Thanks Bobby! You always pick me up and make me smile.

Thanks for visiting. Good Night!