Blossoms

I don't know what kind of tree it is that has these beautiful blossoms but every branch was filled with white and it was beautiful.  We've had a series of beautiful, sunny, warm days so I think spring will stay with us.

Mt. Garfield

When we were at the Mt. Garfield Trailhead last week I thought I might as well take a photo even though we were unable to do our planned night-time shooting.  The sun was setting and shining through clouds that added some nice contrast to the dark bookcliffs.

Baby, Baby

 It's a variation of a baby card I made from the pack of paper I mentioned earlier.  This time I cut the little dresses into a square and added narrow satin ribbon.  Those were matted on light green cardstock which had a scalloped edge.  I punched the border on patterned paper and green cardstock and adhered those to the card front.  Now that I'm looking at the design, I'm wondering if some little hearts scattered about might be a good idea.  I'll try that out.  Making good use of some of the nursery paper that really didn't interest me proved to be a good challenge and now two cards are in my stash awaiting the arrival of a baby girl.  

A Bird In The Bush

This is a rather complicated card.  The panel with the bird flips open to the right and the blue extends to the inside.   The right hand side of the top of the card is trimmed off and what remains is folder embossed.  I added a decorative border to the back and an embossed border to the top. A punched border and narrow satin ribbon was added near the fold (and I failed to notice that the ribbon had slipped a little out of place before I scanned - so pretend you don't notice).  The nest material was punched.  The hearts were also punched, the big one embossed and the dark brown one popped up.    The bird was sprayed with a dark brown ink and then selectively sponged.

Sculpture

There's great sculptures all over town, thanks primarily to our "Art On The Corner" program.  Each spring new art is installed at many areas on Main Street and during the summer some are sold to various individuals and businesses.  I found this stallion at the Visitor Center and thought he was quite handsome.  Maybe he represents the herd of wild mustangs that roam free on top of the bookcliffs to the north of town.

The mustangs are monitored by volunteers who are responsible for their well-being -  administering medications when needed, supplementing food, pruning the herd, etc.  All of the mustangs have a name and the lineage is also tracked.  I bet that's a lot more information than you wanted but there it is.

And just so I'm honest, I took the sculpture out of the background in which it was photographed and "pasted" it onto the cloud backgound.  It shows much, much better.

Pretty, Pretty

I have to wonder about and marvel at so many little blossoms on one stem.  How does that happen?!  This pretty hyacinth was in the flower bed at the Visitor's Center looking so happy in the bright sunlight.

Change of Plans

Imagine our surprise when we went for a night photography field trip on Tuesday night and found the local Sheriff's office in a full-fledged search and rescue mission right where we planned to do our photography.  The rescue volunteers just kept coming, as did the necessary equipment.  It was reported that they had exact coordinates so they didn't expect any problem in finding the individual who needed help.  Hopefully all went well.  We set another date for next week and returned home.

Spring Has Sprung (Again)

I think our plants probably profited from the moisture the snow brought last week.  Now tulips are adding a bright spot of color around town.  I found these at the Visitor's Center.

Birthday Circles

These circles are another washi tape that I found.  The red mat is just a background so discount that as part of the card.  I cut off the right edges of the card to accommodate the circle falling off at the folded edge.  Added a bunch of punched circles in the colors from the tape and popped up the text circle.  I added glittery ink to the stamped image but it doesn't show in the scan.  I think I need to make more things hanging off the edge of cards.

Happy Circles

It suddenly dawned on me that I had this fun washi tape with a circle pattern that I hadn't used.  I kept with the circle theme and got carried away with circle punches.  The focal blue dot was stamped and popped up and "Happy" is enhanced with a glittery pen.  This card should cheer up anyone.

Bulletin Board Plus

A basement flood prompted me to streamline my studio and as part of that process I decided I no longer wanted the large bulletin board that previously hung on the wall.  But I still wanted a way to temporarily tack up a few things for future reference and this was my solution.  Hobby Lobby had these 12-inch frames at 50 percent off so timing was perfect.  I added cork to three of the larger sections and then embellished the other compartments as inspiration struck.  The two wire angels and the dream catcher were on the previous bulletin board.  I used die cuts, punch outs, buttons and embossing folders and even some stamped images and text.  Of course the colors coordinate with the rest of the studio.  The bulletin board contains many of my favorite things so speaks well as to who I am and what I love.  It was a fun project and actually went together rather quickly.

New Arrival

I purchased a pack of 12" paper in a nursery theme, not because I liked the theme but because it had background papers that I really liked.  But I challenged myself to use of the pieces that were definitely in the nursery theme.  In this case I punched some little outfits out of a big sheet and matted them onto a larger circle of green cardstock.  I cut a strip from another sheet and matted it with pink and placed that behind the circles.  I embellished with little plastic flowers and gem and I put little spots of clear Glaze pen on the little designs on the dresses.  The circle stamp was inked with black and stamped on pink and I rounded the end.  I also added some narrow satin ribbon.  Yellow and green strips were cut for each side.  The card itself was stamped with a background stamp and the edges were inked with Old Paper Distress Ink.  Now who's having a baby girl?!

Snowy April

Just when you think spring has finally arrived Mother Nature throws in a little surprise.  Large snowflakes started falling Tuesday night and by morning we had snow clinging to every branch of the trees.  It looked like a fairy wonderland - until the wind started blowing it all down.  John had covered our fruit trees with big sheets of plastic so hopefully there was no damage to those delicate blossoms and we'll still get some fruit.

The End of The Brights

Nope, there's nothing wrong with your eyesight nor your screen.  I purposely put this photo at an angle just to shake things up a bit.  And it's the last of this series of bright cards so I'll have to get busy and make something else.

The washi tape was adhered to white cardstock which was adhered to a yellow mat.  I added a strip of white cardstock and then three punched flowers.  The centers and dots are dimensional paint.  Pretty simple.

Bright Is Beautiful

Yesterday I finished compiling our family newsletter and a visit from my younger brother came to an end.  Time to buckle down to other tasks, one of which better be stamping so I have something to post.

I put washi tape on white cardstock which was matted with bright blue and I added a partial mat of black..  A narrow strip of yellow cardstock was adhered to the card front and then the tape layer added.  The flower and hearts are punched and I gave the hearts a bit of dimension by adding white ink to the edges.

Traveling Back In Time

I found this image in my stash and recently made it into an artist trading card.  Well, not too recently because I stopped making atc's a few weeks back, but I still wanted to post it.  Pigment ink is applied to a solid stamp and then a second stamp (with or without ink) is used to "twist" into the inked surface to create a design.  I just added the punched flower and butterfly and little dots of paint.  And that pink? it's just a background I used for the photography.  Now I think I should have used a different color.  My hindsight is in sharp focus.

Neon Pink

The washi tape also went directly on this card.  All of the other elements are punched and the text is from Hero Arts.

And have you noticed that they just keep coming out with more designs and colors in the washi tape? except not at Hobby Lobby.

There's Dots Before My Eyes

For this card I added washi tape directly to the card front.  I cut a piece of white and added a couple strips of tape to that along with some text from Hero Arts.  The flowers are all punched and I added black Glossy Accents for flower centers - and then some just to add a bit more interest.

Bright Orange

Oops!  I missed posting yesterday.  Some days are just not "normal."  Could have posted later in the day but I had my studio to put back together.

This is another in the series of cards using washi tape.  I partially covered white cardstock with the tape at an angle and then cut it with a die cut.  The flower is punched and I folded the pedals for dimension.  The heart is also punchs and I added ink dots to fine it a little better.  The yellow strip is embossed with a Stampin Up folder.

And there's more of these "brights" coming . . .

Bright Stripes

I happened upon some striped washi tape that went with the other brightly-colored tape that I had but I cut it into narrower strips so it coordinated better.  This flower is created from punched pear shapes.  I curled and layered them and added punched flowers for the center.  The three hearts are also punched and I covered them with Diamond Glaze for dimension.  Who wouldn't be made happier by seeing all that bright color?!!!

Eastern Utah

This view is south of Moab heading north.  It was actually taken in late February, late afternoon hours.  The formations are amazing in their color, layering and shape and the mountain provides a nice background.  Utah has some amazing geological formations.

What a Pair

Yes, it's more washi tape.  Can I use up the whole roll?  Haven't come close yet.

Normally I don't like an even number of elements on a card but it seemed to work in this case.  Flowers and leaves are punched.  Text is a Hero Arts stamp.

A Few Minutes of Fame

 My husband and I were getting ready to run a few errands when I looked out our front door and saw the car for the local nbc new parked in front of the house.  Reporter Taylor Temby knocked on our door and asked if she could talk to us regarding our solar panels.  (They are quite obvious on our roof so she was certain we had some.)  We invited her into our home and a conversation turned into an interview on our back porch.  I'm not the solar expert in the family so the story only shows John but there are shots of our equipment and the house.  We were actually surprised that she included so much of what John said and were impressed at how well she put it together in such a short period of time.  If you would like to see John and Taylor in action, here's a link:

http://www.nbc11news.com/home/headlines/Energy-providers-offer-different-incentives-for-solar-201541841.html

Bright!

I got some brightly-colored washi tape which went into immediate use.  For this card I applied tape to cardstock and die cut the frame.  I matted it to yellow cardstock and adhered it to the back of the card.  The flower and leaves are punched.  I cut off a section of the card front and applied a piece of bright pink that had a subtle stamped background.  The yellow ribbon goes to the inside of the card .  The butterfly is punched.  You almost need sunglasses if you look at this one for very long.  And there's more coming!

Newspaper Poetry

When we were in Oregon recently, I had very limited art supplies so I decided to challenge myself to see what the local newspaper would yield.  I created this "poem" but I have yet to use it in any way.  Sometimes I wonder how my mind works.

Trading Card

The background for this mini piece of art was another "mess sheet" that I had when I was doing some painting projects.  The image of the woman is one I found in a magazine.  The medallion was stamped, edges inked with Distress Ink and the crumpled and then straigtened out again.  I added a small brad to the center.  The final touch was a strip of ribbon.

Sure Sign of Spring

A daffodils in bloom is the first sign of spring in my yard.  On Wednesday last week I checked and there was one daffodil in bloom.  The very next day I checked again and there were 7 in bloom!  My rule is, the garden gets to keep the first bloom but the rest are up for grabs and I can bring them inside.  So we enjoyed five daffodils on our Easter dinner table.  Nice!

Inside My Window

This is a pretty bad photo for showing details in this card but it will have to do.  One of the things that doesn't show is a stripe pattern on the wall behind the window.  I used a die cut for the window and flower box and the flowers and leaves were punched.  I cut a strip of striped paper for the curtain and used scissors for the scalloped edge.

Wish I was really seeing flowers growing in a box outside my window.