What's Growing Friday . . .

Okay, yes, I made that up--as far as I know,
there is no official "What's Growing Friday."
But if you leave me a comment, I'd be delighted to
stop by and see what's growing in your yard (or
art room, or sewing room, or kitchen!)

Here are some of the things growing in our yard
right now--at least what has survived the storm beat
down of the past few days. It was clear yesterday,
for part of the day, anyway, and I got a few pictures
in while enjoying the sun.


This patch of iris is thriving--the burgundy ones
were already bloomed out, and the yellows and
variegated ones got hit hard by the storms, but
these guys are hanging in there.


The wild rose is blooming, and has been for a while
now--the bushes are full and fragrant, scenting our
walking "trail."


The rhododendron was really blown around, and there
are only a few blooms left at this point--but the bush
was beautiful this year, really full of flowers!


The Black Medic is starting to cover the ground in
areas--cheerful little yellow blooms, and, if you
are so inclined, you can gather the tiny black
seeds they produce and grind them into a flour.


The daisies and clover are just starting to bloom,


and yes, unfortunately, there are rainclouds growing
today, too . . .

*sigh*

Wishing you a sunny weekend, wherever you are!
Oh, look at this--trying out the link thing!
C'mon, humor me, leave a link? ;)



Okay, maybe not as much fun as June's Fun Friday,
but I'm just playing around with this new linky
toy!

howdy!

Have you tried any crackle techniques? I REALLY
like the faux barnwood technique over at
Technique Junkies--very easy, and effective!


This is the cover of the cowboy mini book; the faux
denim (also from Technique Junkies) wrap and key slide off.



Have you joined in any of the latest round of
challenges at Gingersnap Creations? The newest
is the Denim, Rust, and Dust color challenge--
just use blue, rust, and tan in your project (nope,
it doesn't have to Wild West related!), and
post it to the Gingersnap site.
This is a kind of mellow color combination; I'm
interested to see what everyone does with it . . .



Okay, I'm not sure how I missed this tidbit of info,
but for this challenge, not only is there a chance
of being the Home Page Artist at the Gingersnap
yahoo group or being a Ginger Gem--Technique Junkies
is providing the lovely prize of one of their newly
released Emboss or Die cds, plus a TWO year subscription.
Now that's a gem of a prize . . . (sorry, had to say it!)

swaps and has anyone seen my camera?

Well, I was going to take some pictures
of what's growing in my yard right now--
some gorgeous iris and peonies, wild rose
and honeysuckle--
but the camera has gone missing . . .


SO you only get these--they're basically tags,
but they're going to be bookmarks for a
swap at the Gingersnap Creations yahoo group.
They're supposed to have a single travel theme,
and since I have some France-ish stamps, well,
that's where we went with these! You know, it's
hard to think "flat" sometimes--these couldn't
be chunky, since they're bookmarks. Also, now
I think they need a little something, so will add
some ribbons and beads or suchwhat sprouting
from the top. Okay, yes, tulle, it will be tulle,
for two reasons:

1. Tulle makes me think of clothing or hats, and
Paris is (I hear) a fashionable spot, PLUS
2. As you may know, almost everything I make right
now has tulle or netting on it!

These bookmarks are also great for these fun
challenges; stop by and check them out if you
need a little weekend inspiration.
Paper Romance--anything but a card
Pixie Dust Studio--vintage
The Rubber Cafe--vintage tag or card
Shelly's Images--anything goes
My Mum's Craft Shop--anything but square
A Gem of a Challenge--Aqua, Lemon, and Pink
Challenge Up Your Life--recycling (the backgrounds are a
collage of old ephemera)
Pattie's Creations--no, no, NO cards!
Polka Doodles--anything but a card
Totally Papercrafts--Don't be a square

Happy Weekend, everyone!
:)
PS: If you want to see more detail, just click on the pic . . .

Father's Day swap tags

These are for a swap--the guidelines are they had
to be Father's Day themed, be tags, plus have some
stitching and metal on them. I don't usually do
"manly" looking things, but these are . . . or are
they? Hmmm. ANYWAY, serendipity background, image
and text on vellum, stitching, and brads.

Anyway, my tags would like to join these challenges,
as well (no, they didn't whisper in my ear or anything
like that, don't be that way!)----

Challenge Up Your Life--travel
Gem of a Challenge--challenge 21
Stamp, Scrap, and Doodle--use old supplies
Totally Gorjuss--not square
DDH--anything but a card
Happileigh Scrappin'--stitching
Karen's Doodles--bold and bright
Squigglefly--anything BUT the usual (this is definitely
NOT my usual!!)
Stamp Something (blog hop!)--anything goes

blogger ate your comments!

If you left a comment on the last two posts
(don't you love good mail? and If your horse
ain't wantin' to go there), please don't think
I deleted them!

They were all nice comments, anyway, so why would I
do that to you???

:)

don't you love good mail??

This came in the mail for me from Laura at
Artfully Musing:



And yes, if you're wondering, it's just as gorgeous
in real life! Laura makes amazingly rich, detailed
pieces, and has a drawing every month, so you may
want to stop by and witness her glory for yourself.

Thank you, Laura!
:)

If your horse ain't wantin' to go there . . .

. . .then neither should you. Sounds like good advice
to me! This is a layout from my latest mini book,
made for the Wild West themed round of challenges at
Gingersnap Creations. The new challenge is "twine"--
there's obviously some on the tag, but that's also
twine there----


frayed around the star brads. Your creation
doesn't have to follow the Wild West general theme,
just twine, and really, who doesn't have some of
that lying about? The denim looking bits were made
using the faux denim technique from Technique Junkies,

and the key/twine/denim thing actually goes around the
closed book; it's just holding open the vellum overlay,
so you can see Mr. Ed there . . . the collage
images are from Altered Pages (which has a brand
new site open, by the way--congratulations!)

This challenge doesn't end until June 7th, so you have
plenty of time to work up a something--I'd love to stop
by and see what you create, so leave us a linky at
Gingersnap Creations!

hats

I think I'm stuck in a tulle lined rut; it seems
that almost everything I make has to have a bit of
netting glued in somewhere . . .

Serendipity collage style backgrounds--my favorite!

Kinda liking the torn edges again, too . . .


And the crayons, everything always has to have
some crayon!


Plus, the not-perfect shape. I think my brain is
whiplashing from all those years of trying to make
perfect circles!

Happy weekend, and have a lovely Mother's Day!
My torn, tulled, off-cut pieces go along with
these challenges:

If the Shoe fits . . . Scrap It!---green
Crafty Catz--quote or sentiment
Charisma Cardz--No Cards Allowed!
Colour Create Challenge Blog--aqua, green, purple, white
Hanna & Friends--no patterned paper (my backgrounds are
made by me!)
Paper Play--show us your style!
Southern Girls--let's hear it for the girls!
Divas by Design's first challenge! Anything goes
The Paper Variety--mists, ink, or paint (that made me
laugh, because there's all three on these!)

cowboys, a winner, and poor little Billy . . .

The next round of challenges has begun over at
Gingersnap Creations, and the new theme is
Wild West--the current challenge, cowboys and
cowgirls. You'd think, being a midwest girl
my whole life, I'd jump up and shout "yee-haw"
for this one, but let me tell you, at first I
just kinda thought, "Uh, what?"

Then (I am NOT going to say "moseyed on over,"
no, no NO!) I perused the selection of Old West
themed Altered Pages images, and that was enough
inspiration to get me started on another mini book--
here's the first layout:



Plus, and this is a BIG PLUS, Technique Junkies

graciously agreed to host this round of challenges,
and allowed us a peek at some of their amazing
tutorials. The faux denim and faux barn wood
techniques--perfect. Both are so easy, and have
such a great effect. Thank you, Technique Junkies!

Hey, congratulations to Cathy, you are the
random getter of the Asian goodies-- Cathy happens
to be one of my Altered Pages DT sisters! Hiya, honey!

So c'mon, you know you wanna play along-- don't end up like
poor little Billy: