tweet tweet tweet

I love birds.  I don't want to own any.  I just like them in my backyard.

side story:  I once owned a canary.  Lovely bird.  At the same time I also owned a cat.  Lets just say the poor bird's cage had so much duct tape on it because the cat would jump from the counter to the cage and it would fall down and crack.  How that bird survived I'll never know.  We ended up finding him a new home.......with no cats.  

18 made me a ceramic bird house for Mother's Day and I would love to put it out but I'm afraid the cat would kill any little birdies that she finds.  She is an excellent mouser, grasshopperer and lizarder.  Catching a tasty bird would just be extra yummy.

So I was still trying to get a thank you card made (no such luck yet) and made this card instead.  I had the base laying on my desk from a failed attempt at something else and reasoned that I needed to get it off the desk before I made the thank you.  Sounds logical right?

Ready?

For the Birds.  Crumb cake and watercolor paper.  Marina mist, soft suede, real red, black Stazon and sahara sand inks.  Big shot, labels framelits, bakers twine, Aquapainter,  wood button, chevron embossing folder.

Isn't she/he cute?  I should have made him look like a canary.  Next time. 

Its not often (like never) that I do a one layer card.  It just seemed to work though. 

See the shape of the die cut.  That is my Groovy Square.  You can see here how to do it. 

See that button?  That is one of the new buttons in the catalog.  They are wood and you get 3 differnent styles. 

I've been loving the watercoloring lately.  I use my Aquapainter and the smooshed ink from the lids. 

I like this design.  I might try it with the Christmas bird too. 


Alrighty then, school has started here.  The big kids start on Monday but Grace started this week. 

My big 6th grader/middle schooler.  I can hardly believe it.  So far she has thoroughly enjoyed it.  So far.  I know that won't last. 

T-minus 36 hours before I willingly move 18 out.  The Hubs has informed me that if I cry all the way back home that I'm not allowed to go.  Or he'll tie me to the roof rack.  Such a swell guy. 

Thanks so much for stopping by and hanging out. 

Blessings, b.

Greetings.............

...........from the surface of the sun.

I know, every year about this time I start whining about the heat.  But, OMG! it is so stinking hot here. 

Lets just say..........I truly love air conditioning.  I would marry it.  It just makes life better.  Except when the electric bill comes around, then I want a divorce. 

So I needed to make some Thank Yous and sat down with the new set, For the Birds.  Such a cute set. 

Problem is, it didn't come out a Thank You.  If I was smart I guess I would start planning for Christmas.

For the Birds.  Wild wasabi and watercolor paper.  Riding hood red, marina mist, wild wasabi, lucky limeade, crumb cake and black Stazon inks.  Aquapainter, cherry cobbler twine, neutrals buttons, black journaler and dimensionals. 

Merry Christmas!  Isn't this little bird just so cute?  And he is bringing you an ornament.  How thoughtful! 

The base is Wild Wasabi but it looks so washed out here.  But it is, trust me.

I love this Baker's Twine.  This makes me think of candy canes.

Speaking of the Baker's Twine, look what I made.  The twine comes wrapped around a card.  But then you get bends or folds in the twine.  See that end on the chocolate chip piece?  I don't like those folds.  So I took a toilet paper tube, covered it in DSP, wrapped my twine around it and cut a slit into the end of the tube to secure the twine.  No more bended/folded twine!   Yes, sometimes I have good ideas.

Hello little birdie!  I used a glitter gel pen for the ornament.  Gives it a little sparkle. 

I drew a line around the border just to finish it off.  This was easy enough to make.  I don't send out very many cards at Christmas so I could probably mass produce these.  We'll see. 


Alrighty then.  I spent a good hour or so in the morning yesterday, mourning over the fact that 18 will only live permanently in this house for a few more days.  Once she makes that first step out the door to live somewhere else, it will never ever be the same.  My heart will be fully shattered by next weekend I'm sure. 

So pray for me that I don't totally freak out and refuse to leave her dorm room. 

Thanks so much for stopping by and holding my hand.

Blessings, b.

California Poppies

Good morning!  Hot enough for ya?  Geez!  I'm ready for October. 

I wanted to show you another card today.  This is the last one I've gotten done using Pleasant Poppies (almost wrote poopies again). 

Pleasant Poppies.  Crumb cake, early espresso and watercolor paper.  Pumpkin pie, tangerine tango, poppy parade (retired), old olive and marina mist inks.  Aquapainter, vintage faceted button, linen thread, baja breeze seam binding, 2 way glue pen and dazzling diamonds.  

I made these to look like California Poppies, the state flower.  They grow all along the hillsides in the spring.  Carpets of orange.  Too bad they don't last very long. 

I left off a sentiment.  I couldn't seem to figure out where to put one and then decided it didn't need one.  I used to make lots of cards without a sentiment, maybe I'll get back to that. 

I just love these buttons and can see that I'll have to order more.  You can sorta kinda see in this pic that I did a wash over the watercolor paper before I colored in the poppies.  It came out a little more subtle than I wanted but then again needed it to be so the orange and green would still look orange and green.

A little messy coloring for you. 

Alrighty then.  We've been trying to stay cool.  I've had to water the veggies twice a day.  The poor things. 

The girls have been doing a little special effects photography.  I gotta show you, I think its so cool.

This is my favorite one.  Cool eh?  You can follow Robin on Instagram: robin709  She takes lots of cool pics. 

I can't follow her on there because I don't know how.  She is the only one in this house that knows anything about technology.  What am I going to do when she is gone? 

Apparently its time to wrap this up.  People are telling me they are starving!  Right, like someone will starve in this house...........hmph.

Thanks so much for stopping by and hanging out.

Blessings, b.

what just happened?

I swear, in the blink of an eye a whole week is gone.  Did I get anything productive done?  Well yeah, but not much.  Not as much as I should have. 

I go back to work next week and even though my mind is in hyperspeed thinking of all the things I wanted to get done this summer, my body is saying, "Screw it!  I just want to relax." 

So there is a tug-of-war everyday. 

We've been watching the Olympics.  I've always loved the gymnastics.  It amazes me what these people can do with their bodies.  You would think that would inspire my body to want to do something....mmmmm........no, not so much.  It was also 107 here today and that doesn't help. 

So instead of working on the yard, I've been stamping.  WooHoo!  I got those new sets a month ago and haven't even inked them up.  Ack!

Here is one that I've finished.

Pleasant Poppies and A Word for You.  Whisper white, shimmery white and poppy parade cardstock.  Poppy parade, old olive, early espresso, Black Stazon and Versamark inks.  Woodgrain embossing folder, big shot, window frame framelits, white embossing powder, aquapainter and dimensionals.

The first set I'm starting to play with is Pleasant Poppies.  I got this idea from Kristina Werner's blog.  

 I swear everytime I try to type that out it says, Pleasant Poopies.  Which may be pleasant but thats not what we're talking about here. 

This is a 4.25" x 4.25" card.  I like how the colored poppies (poopies) kind of lift off the card. 

I don't know why this pic came out dark.  I colored on Shimmery white cardstock.  You can see the shimmer here.  That is one of the other cardstocks we carry that can withstand watercoloring. 

I had a heck of a time though trying to shade them right.  I may do them over again.  Although they look better in person.  They are kind of drab here. 

One of the things I need/want to do is go through all the pics I took while at my dad's.  I wanted to show you a few from the ride home. 

We took the train home.  Never again.  When I am on the way home, I just want to be home and the train just takes too long. 

I'm sure you've seen the movie Cars.  Well, here it is in real life:

Radiator Springs anyone?

Then when I got home I harvested these:

This was my entire grape harvest this year.  They were delicious!  Hopefully I get more next year.

And look who is perturbed that mommy is back home and wants to use her chair?

I swear everytime I get up she gets in there.  Dang cat! 

Alrighty then.  We have been getting things together for 18 to get ready to move to school.  She finally got her roommates info and they've been emailing.  That, along with the pile of stuff we are accumulating to pack, I think she is finally getting a little excited to go.  I know she is scared too but I'm trying to be "Brave Mommy" and not talk her into staying home.  Its getting so close. 

Since I'm taking advantage of the heat and giving myself permission to stay inside and stamp, I acutally have more to show you.  But I don't want to put you into shock so I'll wait. 

Thanks so much for stopping by.  Stay cool!

Blessings, b.