Tulips in summer

Well, I knew I'd fall behind eventually with my posts. The last couple of weeks have been so busy with birthdays and end-of-school-year activities, and frankly, I got burned out from having to finish all the teachers' thank-you's at the last minute (what's new).


Here's a little thank you I made a while back along with two others quite similar (I had colored three of the tulip baskets with Copics), using more or less the same colors and the same (retired) Regal Rose DSP. I added some old lace I've had hanging around for years, and I like the softer effect it gives this card. The So Saffron strip is embossed with the Perfect Details Texture Plate (my favorite one) and the little flower die and sentiment are PTI. I found the inner sentiment stamp at Ink About It and I love it - I should use it more often.

I hope to get inspired to do some more stampin' soon!

Tea for Teachers

Last Wednesday was the Teachers' Appreciation Luncheon at Hemenway Elementary to honor and thank all the teachers in the school for their hard work during the year. Usually, parents provide dishes but this year, donations were made instead and the luncheon was provided by a local catering company.

I chose to make my contribution in the form of tea bags, each in its own decorated card. (I got the idea from Angie Kennedy Juda at Chic 'n Scratch - thanks, Angie!)

I used all kinds of odds and ends I have collected over the last year or two, so each card was one of a kind. They were fun (but time-consuming) to make, each with its own design and color scheme.

Since this is our last year at Hemenway (it's been eight years since Connor was in kindergarten), I wanted to make sure the teachers know how much I have appreciated their help and guidance over the years.

I got a lot of compliments on the gift so I know it was appreciated. It feels so good to do something nice for our hard-working teachers.

Holy Crow, my Boss is 65 - I hope he doesn't Retire!

On Monday, Ken, my boss of the last two years (as well as the ten years before I had children), celebrated a milestone - his 65th birthday! He is a pension actuary, and the company is all about retirement; and now he has reached his Normal Retirement Age. I joked that I hope he wasn't going to retire, and thankfully, I don't think he plans to any time soon.



This card was made to appeal to Ken's playful nature. The cover sentiment, from Hope Happens, is a bit tongue-in-cheek and is stamped on a great die set I borrowed from Linda. "eat cake" is from Cute by the Inch and the inside sentiment is from Whimsical Words. Card stock is (retired) Buckeroo Blue (because I needed a 12x12 sheet), Crumb Cake (embossed with Perfect Polka Dots folder), Early Espresso and Very Vanilla.

Since the candle is missing from my brand-new Create a Cupcake stamp set (I must have missed it when popping out the rubber stamps - aaggghhhh), I used the cake-with-candles image from (retired) Birthday Whimsy to stamp 66 candles (one to grow on, remember). It was a challenge to fit them all in! I added Dazzling Diamonds to make the flames sparkle - a lot safer than 65 real candles on his cake!



I enlisted my kids (well, Connor, really) to help me hang a banner over the building entrance in preparation for our luncheon celebration the following day.

Happy Birthday, Ken!

Happy Birthday, Sister Dear!

Today is my sister Judie's birthday. She loves lavender roses - her natural skin care company is called Lavender Rose (www.thelavenderrose.com) - and so I decided to make some to send to her. We don't see each other as often as I'd like but I want her to know she's in my heart.

I made the rolled roses using two spiral dies from MFT; first I distressed and separated the paper into two pieces to make it softer and more pliable. The color is actually Pale Plum, with mats of Concord Crush. The stem is from Fabulous Florets and the sentiment is from Watercolor Trio. Ribbon is Lavender Moon from PTI.








Happy Birthday, Toots!

A wish for you

This card is similar to the one I made for my nephew Michael's birthday last Friday. I like the argyle textured background with the striped paper. I love this little seed packet envelope; I used the die to cut the insert, too.

Pacific Point again with a bit of mixed oranges, mostly Peach Parfait and there is some Tangerine Tango, too, I think. The star stamps are from two different sets (retired, probably, since I don't see them in the catalog.)








I adhered a gift card to the back of this card with a little repositionable adhesive and slipped it into the envelope for a cool and fun birthday card.

I can see many ideas for using this design again - soon!

Flower gardens

I shot a few pictures of the flowers blooming in my garden this week. I just love all the purples and yellows at this time of year.




These daylilies are so fragrant! I picked some to bring indoors, and the wind blew the pollen all over me as I carried them indoors...

A Nora Barlow type columbine (there are two flowers side by side)



These are regular blue columbine which self sow all around the threadleaf Japanese maple; the blue and red are striking. Blue forget-me-nots bloom all underneath that maple, too, which I can see from my window but tree covers them up from here.

Japanese painted fern growing over tiny Iris cristata

These little irises are so bright and cheery

I was planning to cap off this post with a photo of my tree peony just beginning to bloom, all fat brilliant silk buds. As I was leaving for work on Wednesday morning I thought, Oh, I should go back in and get my camera to take a pic, but I was running behind as usual and I planned to take it the next morning instead. I got my pruners too and headed out on Thursday morning, but all of the tall stems were laying flat on the ground... sob... it was a victim of the crazy thunderstorm we got that night, that storm system that spawned several tornadoes an hour or two west of us. I am grateful that the only damage I suffered was the flattening of a bush.

A few of the lighter stems popped back up a bit, but all of the large blooms were on the ground.

Toni, my neighbor, who gave me this bush for my birthday a couple of years ago, helped me to tie it up and it has recovered some. The bouquet of blooms I cut for the office was gorgeous, but I promise myself to stake this peony next year.

Good works

I've been using a lot of Pacific Point lately, a color I haven't used a lot of until now. I find I usually pair it with orange for a birthday card with balloons or stars: I made a terrific interactive card for my nephew yesterday - which I forgot to photograph -and I recently made a baby Congratulations card in these colors. (By the way, I just met that baby a little while ago - oooohh, what a beautiful little boy!)

I love to make cards pairing butterflies with quotations by Mother Theresa, and I nearly always use a shade of blue. I hadn't made one using Pacific Point, or these two stamp sets, and I guess it was about time. I love both of these stamps and they go so well together. The simplicity of the die-cut oval and the Perfect Details embossed background go well with the Scallop Trim border punch. Inside reads "Thanks for ALL you do!" It's for the teachers's gifts, of course.

One of these days, I'll post the series of Mother Theresa cards. They're some of my favorites.