Flowers

These little guys are in my front yard in the bed that I started last winter. I love the little pink and white varigated ones. I was surprised to get them in a bulk package.

I got out some today and planted some annuals in the front. I decided to not wait since they are small and I can fit them in around the tulips. I'm really anxious to see how it's going to look this summer.

I'm in Love with Tim Holtz!

We went to Ben Franklin after closing (the office) tonight. I needed to get some more mica powder (perfect pearls) and nobody around here sells them individually. I also wanted to get some more alcohol inks. You take these powders and mix them with Tim Holtz distressing inks and them use his little mini misters to apply it to the paper. I got a bunch of the new Brights alcohol inks and some of the regular ones, then some distresssing inks and several jars of Perfect Pearls powder. Then I thought I would juset look at the Cuddlebug embossing folders and found this one. I didn't realize it had an embossing folder and a cutting die and was $20 instead of $6. I was going to take it back but Dave wouldn't let me. But anyway, this is the embossed image and the background is a pattern paper misted with Weathered Wood distressing ink with Forever Blue Perfect Pearls and Milled Lavender distressing ink with Interference Violet Powder. You can just barely see the pattern behind it. The metallic effect doesn't really show here very well. I'm thinking of all those old papers that I am not crazy about any more and how I can alter them with this technique. You can't see the white cardstock base in the scan, but it has an edge of white showing. I don't think that you can actually see the shimmer from the powder either, but it's really pretty. This is #84 for my Relay for Life cards.

I thought I should edit this post and add that Tim Holtz, for those who don't know is the creator of the alcohol and distressing inks and all the little goodies that I've been gorging on lately.

Alcohol Inks

This first one was not done with alcohol inks. It was heat embossed with white on white glossy card stock and then brayered on with lavender ink. It's been sitting around for a while and I was inspired with my archival ink to finish it. The embossing doesn't show well with the glare from the scanner. This is a combination of techniques from Tim Holtz website. It is alcohol inks and I applied the blender solution to the glossy cardstock, then put drops of the alcohol inks on that, and then used the canned air to gently blow it across the page. I tried the canned air technique the way he explains it on his video but didn't like it at all. I love it with the blending solution though because it really softens the effect and gives it a very marbly look.

Same technique but with more colors and gold metalic. I love it! I really like these old Club Scrap stamps that I dug out of my stash too. The flourish on the bottom of the card is heat embossed with gold embossing powder. Was going ot put a sentiment on it, but thought I'd just leave it the way it is.

You can't see it in the scans, but the background is glossy and especially the blue one looks like marble. Love this stuff!

Playing with alcohol inks

They are so fun to work with. You never know just what kind of background you are going to end up with. I do need to buy more colors though. Trying to find the bet way to show these cards, so these are photographed and the others are scanned. I couldn't get up close because it is glossy cardstock and reflected the flash. This one I did before I had the metallic ink, and I also did it a little differently by putting the blender fluid on the glossy cs and then dropping the inks into it.

These two are done in the conventional way with the applicator and metallic inks. I also tried using different matts and card bases to try and give a different affect.

I can't tell you how many I have done and really liked the background but when I stamped them, the stamp didn't come out good, so had to toss it. I was going to do some tonight with heat embossing white, but I really do like the black archival ink on these backgrounds.

Sunday

Didn't go to the Home and Garden show today. Had the fuel pump replaced in the car and it is making a noise, so it goes back to the shop tomorrow. This is getting to be an old story. Did a few more cards today for Relay in May. I think I'm in the 70's now. I really don't even care at this point if I get to 100 or not. The card on the left has the block mounted with pop dots but it can't be seen here. The one on the right I tried stamping on the right side and the embossing messed up the stamp so it didn't look right, so.. as the saying goes.. there's no such thing as a mistake.. you can change the arrangement! You gotta love it!

My First Tulip of the Year!

I didn't expect to see this today. The buds are all pretty small yet, so it was a nice surprise. Dave is off getting a new fuel pump and water pump in the Jimmy today. Our mechanic is try to pay for post graduate studies for his kid I think. Anyway he's been gone all day so I was going to just putter on the deck planting some of my petunias. Got most of them done and was just going to trim a dead flax in the front and ended up spending quite a bit of time out there.

Tomorrow we're off the the Home and Garden show in Everett with Alexis and Skip. I'll be sure and bring my camera.

More...

If there is anything that I like more (or at least as much as) paper crafting, it is flowers. Especially if I have grown them. I couldn't resist getting a few more pics of them while they are still vibrant. I finally figured out how to take the date stamp off too. It's good for community pics but not for my flowers. This section of daffs is still going strong. They opened later than the ones just down the row. It is a little overcast today so the sun isn't shining through the petals so much but I think it is still pretty.

This is the lighter pink helabore in front.

Flowers, flowers, flowers... you gotta love em!

I couldn't resist today, had to get some pictures. This is a perenial salvia. I've had the blue ones before but they are only annual. They are actually about a foot tall already. Vinca blue was from the sale at Carpinito's.

This helaborus was one that Marjie gave me last year and it's been doing really well. I've read that they actually are through with by spring, but mine seem to keep blooming and looking beautiful well into summer.

This is a helaborus that I bought last year at the NW Flower and Garden show in Seattle.

The sedum Autumn Joy is one that Marjie gave me last year. I brought it in during late summer and quite a bit of it broke off, so I have it planted all around. I love these beautiful succulants. This one will get about 3 feet tall.

Another sedum from Marjie. This one is a ground cover type... low growing.

I can't wait for everything to get big. This area at the entrance has never had anything in it except trees. I hope they can all survive the lousy soil until I get it built up.

Sunday

It was a quiet day around here...other than the rain beating down. Had to cancel the Easter egg hunt. Should have had it yesterday I guess. I packaged the eggs and took them around to the kids.

I did get a chance to work on some simple cards that I embossed with my new Cuddlebug. Also used some of the new stamp sets from CTMH and some olds ones.

I've never been much for doing plain white cards, but the Bug makes it easy to have nice looking yet simple cards.

Daffodils

I love daffs. The smell reminds me of growing up near the Puyallup Valley and going to, and marching in the annual Daffodil Parade. These daffs have been blooming for about a month. But these that are in the same area, but just a little further east, just opened up in the last couple days.

This is the new flower bed on the opposite side from the sign. I just put it in last summer after we came here, and I like it better than the other one. Maybe i will make the other bigger so it matches more. There are also tulips planted here and I can't wait for them to start blooming.

Tomorrow is suppose to be our last nice day for a while and I wanted to get all the work done outside that I could today, and I am so stinkin tired tonight. I weeded a little bit out here, and then went to the back of the community by one of the guest parking area and trimmed some trees back and weeded getting ready for new bark. I have the company pick up and loaded the branches (pretty big ones) in to the the bed to haul over to the wooded area to get rid of. I was pulling them out pretty hard and a branch was caught under another one and when it let loose it cold conked me in the side of the head. Fortunately it hit my ear or I would probably have had a concussion. Well, maybe not, but it sure hurt.

So, being a glutton for punishment, after closing the office (which I wasn't in much today), and doing my deposits for the day, I was so tired I went in and layed down thinking I'd take just a quick little nap. I couldn't quit thinking about the deck that I had just a little bit more to paint, and I'd be done. So I went out and finished. Well, there are a few rails that have to be painted yet, but it is miniscule next to what I've already done. I should be able to get it done in about 10 minutes tomorrow. Then then there's the back deck! But it's quite small anyway. Maybe I'll make dh do it...haha.

Oh yes, while we were coming back from the bank I stopped at Lowe's and picked up a few lithodora and perenial salvia for the entrance beds. I'll put those in tomorrow. I love lithodora and put it in the last community we managed.

New toy

We went for a drive today so that Dave could find the paint ball field for the prepay tickets I got him for Christmas. It was suppose to be Graham, but turned out to be Orting. So, he was happy with the field and will plan a trip soon.

On the way home we stopped at JoAnn Fabrics and I had a 20% off coupon, plus the Cuttlebug and accessories were also 40% off. I've been thinking about it for a long time and figured I wasn't going to get a better deal than that. I got two embossing templates and now I want more!! It's a disease, I know!

Beautiful Saturday

The weather was gorgeous today and I tried to get as much in to it as I could today. I started our by painting my deck. I did part of it last time it wasn't raining... about a month ago. Then moved some of the deck furniture and did a big section this morning. Then we went shopping and I picked up this cute little shelf (it rotates) at a thrift store. I could just see my reinkers in it. So, I painted it with acrylics. I haven't used acrylics in years and some of them were pretty nasty. Then dug out my foam stamps to decorate it. The stain is still on the top but i really don't care. I didn't realize until I took these pictures that i missed a couple spots. Oh well, a project for tomorrow.

And this is what it looks like now in my room. I have embossing powders and stuff on it now, but it will eventually be filled up with reinkers and alcohol inks

Clyle is talking about moving out again, so I might have more room to work with soon. I'm not holding my breath though.