A Trip to the Zoo

Today was my mom's birthday and it also happened to be the day the assisted living facility where she lives had planned an outing to the zoo.  And since there was room for one more they let me tag along :)

Look at how bored and grumpy this orangutan looks:



But look what happens when he finds himself with an audience!  Hee!

This pair of rhinos look as dry and dusty as the ground where they're resting.  Did you know they are hunted senselessly for their horns only?  Their meat and hides are left to rot.

They say cats sleep for at least 20 out of the 24 hours in a day.  At least this snow leopard lazily opened her eyes for the camera!

You can see why the staff at the zoo have nicknamed this seal "Flounder":

And lastly here's a pic of the birthday girl - I think her smile says it all!

So incredibly thankful for days like these :)

When Was the Last Time You Used Pinking Shears?

I've had this idea for a congrats card for a new baby girl all month and finally put it together today:

The die cut onesie is from Cricut New Beginnings cart.  I stamped it with this cute sentiment from studio g I found in the $1 bin at AC Moore.  The background was stamped with Hero Arts S5215 Clouds in Color Box french blue ink.  The sun and tiny clothespins are images from Hero Arts CL439 Kiss From the Sun clear set.  I happened to notice my pinking shears collecting dust while hanging from my craft room wall and thought I should put them to good use making some grassy hills:)
Other Materials Used:  Papertrey ink cloud die, Cuttlebug swiss dot embossing folder, Martha Stewart baker's twine, Oriental Yrader button, Stampin' Up cs and pp.

Now if only one of our nieces or nephews would cooperate and give me a reason to need this card...........:)  :)   :)

His & Hers

This fun patterned paper from American Crafts immediately made me think of the chairs in Hero Arts clear set CL480 Wish You Were Here so of course I had to buy a sheet :)

I embossed one of the chairs from this set on the solid red reverse side of the pp, cut it out and mounted it on a swiss dot embossed circle.  The sentiment from the same set was stamped on a thought bubble I die cut from Cricut George and Basic Shapes cart and adhered to the card front as shown.

Other Materials Used:  Martha Stewart baker's twine, Stampin' Up cs and ink, Nestie, Cuttlebug swiss dot embossing folder

I didn't stop there!  A cute anniversary card featuring His & Her towels in Card Creations Volume 9 page 17 inspired me to create this card that could be used as either an Engagement or Wedding card:

The sentiment from Hero Arts set CL342 Everyday Sayings was embossed on a piece of vellum and attached to the card front with brads.  I found the His & Hers letter stickers at Dollar General.  The "rug" was made by die cutting an oval from Cricut George and Basic Shapes cart and snipping the edges with scissors to create "fringe".

Other Materials Used:  Stampin' Up cs, pp, vellum and ink, Making Memories brads, Nestie, Cuttlebug swiss dots embossing folder

Thanks for all your sweet comments!  Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend :)

Dots & Flowers

This card finally made it to the birthday girl over the weekend so I can share it here:

I was totally inspired by this patterned paper from "the girls' paperie".  I die cut the dress form from the dotted reverse side of the striped paper.  The button card is a copy of a vintage one that I printed out on cream colored cardstock and then distressed with Ranger antique linen distress ink.  I glued the pink vintage reproduction buttons to it before adhering it to the card front.  I found the Wilton pink paper doily in a Walmart clearance aisle.  When I was putting the card together I thought it was missing something so I added the die cut paper ric rac that my sweet flickr friend Anita sent to me - I think it's just what the card needed :) 

Not a whole lot of stampin' going on but this was a fun card to put together. My dh blames the birthday girl Allysa for what he refers to as my "papercrafting addiction".  Since she's also responsible for introducing me to Zumba I like to joke around that if it wasn't for her I wouldn't have any hobbies :) 
Other Materials Used: Martha Stewart baker's twine, Rubber Stampede Sentiment, Stampin' Up ink, Cricut cart Summer in Paris (dress form die cut), Cricut cart George and Basic Shapes (label die cut)

Hope everyone is having a great start to their week!  Thanks for stopping by and for your comments!

Watercolored Flowers

I put together another card with a panel I stamped the other day using a watercolor technique:

The grass from Hero Arts CL428 Earth Flowers was inked with Ranger peeled paint distress ink and then spritzed with a mix of perfect pearls and water before stamping on a piece of watercolor paper.  The weed from Hero Arts CL185 Elegant Weeds was inked with a Stampin' Up rich razzleberry marker and spritzed as above before stamping.  It's difficult to see in the photo but I also stamped Hero Arts S5507 Envelope Pattern with Ranger antique linen distress ink on the sentiment circle and distressed the whole thing with the same ink.  Sentiment is from Hero Arts CL342 Everyday Sayings. 
Other Materials Used:  Stampin' Up cs, pp and butterfly die, Nesties, Queen & Co. pearls, Cuttlebug swiss dots embossing folder, Basic Grey pp (butterfly)

I took my mom and her cat to the vet yesterday as she had made the painful decision to put Cali (short for Calico) to sleep.  I'm going to be honest - there was no love lost between me and Cali.  I don't have enough fingers and toes to count the number of times Cali tried to bite me!  But for 12 years Cali was good company for my mom and for that reason alone my heart aches for my mom.

I'm Blaming it on the Weather!

I've been nonexistent in blogland for a few weeks and I'm blaming it on the weather!  Summer in upstate NY is sooooo fleeting that when it does finally arrive you grab on with both hands!  And to make matters worse I don't own a laptop.  After spending months and months this winter cooped up in the house I have a hard time sitting inside when the sun is finally shining outside. 

Yesterday I was inspired by the flowers blooming around my patio.  I took some watercolor paper, stamps, distress inks and a water mister outside and tried to re-create some of the beauty surrounding me:



 Hero Arts S5316 Silhouette Grass was inked with Ranger peeled paint distress ink then misted with a mix of perfect pearls and water before stamping on a piece of watercolor paper.  Using the same technique I stamped one of the flowers from Hero Arts CL428 Earth Flowers in dusty concord distress ink and the single flower from Hero Arts CG170 Wildflower Garden in spiced marmalade distress ink.  I love how unpredictable the results are when using this watercolor technique and was really pleased with how this turned out.  My dh, on the other hand, asked why the flowers looked like blotches........*sigh*
Other Materials Used:  Hero Arts PS621 Sunshine Layering Papers, Hero Arts CL342 Everyday Sayings (sentiment), Stampin' Up pp, butterfly dies and vellum, Queen & Co. rhinestones

Thanks for stopping by!

Celebrate!

It's our niece Katie's birthday on June 6th and since she lives in South Carolina I needed to get her card done so we can mail out her package this week.  Katie is definitely a "fashionista" so when I saw this patterned paper collection by sei called "Couture" I knew it would be perfect!

After stamping the dress form and hat from a clear set by Toga with Clearsnap seaglass pigment ink, I overstamped both images with Hero Arts S5507 Envelope Pattern with Ranger antique linen distress ink to give them a little texture.  After cutting both images out I also inked their edges with the same distress ink.  The sentiment that I embossed on the banner is from an old Rubber Stampede set - I love this funky font!  I used a Martha Stewart punch and a Stampin' Up die to create the layered butterfly.  The individual and flourish rhinestones are from Michael's.  The paper flower was a gift from a friend :)
Other Materials Used:  Stampin' Up cs 

I hope everyone is having a fabulous start to their week!  I want to thank you for sending positive thoughts my mother-in-law's way.  Her surgery to remove the gallstones was successful and she is feeling soooooo much better :)  I'm off to spend some time with my mom today - we're going to do a little shopping and have lunch at Olive Garden (Yum!).