Why I Love To Garden

Some Valentine's Day Photos

2012-02-14T17:20:00.001-08:00

Received roses from Hubby.
Made cookie for Hubby. I need more practice on my piping.

Tried to follow the direction in the booklet. Found I need more practice on the icing technique using the piping bags. I had a mess.
I used Wilton meringue for the icing. The bottle I purchased at a local cake decorating store and found it was much easier to pipe royal icing onto the cookies.
A couple of cards I received in the mail. The one at the top is from a family member.
This one is from Ms. "L". Great cards. On Ms. "L"'s card I believe she used the glitter technique done on Dave Brethauer's blog. A really neat way to add glitter to your cards. Need to give it a try myself.

Opie took his Valentine's photo so Momma could e-mail it out.
Also a phone call from my Daughter too.

Hope you had a nice day too.

Happy Valentine's Day

2012-02-14T05:00:00.000-08:00

Here are some treat bags that I made using the "Celebrate it" paper bags that I purchased at Michael's. They measure 4-5/8" x 2-7/8" x 8-5/8". I used my dies, paper punch, embossing folders, paper crimper, paper flowers, bling and ink. Oh, and some candy for the inside.
Very simple and quick.

Hope you have a day filled with Love.

Signs Of Spring

2012-02-12T14:00:00.000-08:00

Some nice rain we had and expected to have more next week.
I did get a chance with a break in the weather to move the dirt and the compost bin in the corner of the vegetable area. The snap peas are starting to give more and I have more snap peas to add to the area. I also did my first sowing of tomato seeds and I plan to sow more in March.
On one of the brussels sprout plants I see some tiny sprouts. Very exciting.
The signs of spring with the Tuscan Sun rose with its first bloom for 2012.

Vancouver Centennial Geranium

2012-02-10T11:00:00.000-08:00

Here is one of my containers of the Vancouver Centennial Geranium.
The flowers were not the reason that I purchased the plant it was the leaves. I have had this plant for many many years. I have taken clipping and started new plants. I keep this geranium small and I need to watch out for those little caterpillars that love to eat the tender leaves.

As you can see it is in a small container and every year I do re-pot with new soil and trim back the stems and any dead leaves.
Have a wonderful weekend.

An Interesting Little Weed

2012-02-09T09:29:00.000-08:00

A morning photo of an interesting little weed that Hubby found in the yard and it bloomed.

A lovely shade of lavender too.

It has fern like leaves and we have it in a peat pot. I'm not sure what we are going to do with it.

Thanks for your visit and have a beautiful day.

In The Garden

2012-02-08T05:05:00.000-08:00

Can't believe we are into February. In my garden the brussels sprouts have filled out nicely. Now for them to start to grow upward. In mid spring I will need to give them some ironite.

I made my seed list and we can start to sow indoors for our summer garden. I need to be more organized this time around. I have a lot of vegetables and flowers that I want to grow.
Opie in the garden.
I am enjoying the colors of the nasturtiums. I sowed a few more seeds but they have not sprouted.
They attracted so many bees too. I did not have my camera but a beautiful hummingbird paid them a visit too.
Thanks for stopping bye. Have a wonderful day.

Garden Journaling January 15th - January 31 2012

2012-02-01T05:00:00.000-08:00

A couple of photos of the kalanchoe in full bloom.
Pages of my garden journal.

Now on to February and this is the month that gardeners in Southern California can start to sow our summer vegetables, indoors. We still can get some freezing weather here. This week I will be looking at the seeds that I have and start to plan.
A small embroidery that I was working on. Now I will start on the pillow case. It is an iron on transfer and I was testing out the colors and a new stitch for me, a split stitch.
A nice pop of color in the yard and they are attracting a lot of bees too. All rose bushes have nice new healthy leave. We are having beautiful weather and no rain insight for the next five days.

Thanks for your visit and have a nice day.

Spring Cards

2012-01-25T09:59:00.001-08:00

Using this pretty paper by Martha Stewart called Vintage Girl Flower paper #45-00010. I purchased this last year and it is double sided. I only got two sheets and I was going make Valentine cards from the papers but when looking at the papers I saw Spring and a garden party. It is amazing how the creative process happens.

For the base of the cards I used Georgia-Pacific white card stock. I purchased a stack at Wal-mart. The birthday sentiments are from a cling set stamps set by TPC Studio called "Card Crafting Happy Birthday,#2011138. I used one of the trio Martha Stewart butterfly punches on several of the cards. Inked the edges in Versa Magic Chalk Ink, Pixie Dust. Martha Stewart border punch, My Favorite Things Die-namices banner trio die set.
Here is what the full sheets look like.

Sizzix postage frame set, mini flower punces by Carl Carla Crafts to make the tiny flowers, Sizzix sizzlits "Branch w/ leaves.
Sizzix embossing folder "flowers and dots" set, Spellbinders "Donna-Salazar" die set called "Fanciful Flight Butterfly". I added Stickles to the butterfly. The half circles are one of the size banners on the trio banner die. You could just use a circle punch and cut it in half.

The label is from a Sizzix Sizzlits Ornate labels set.
Same design just change the sentiment. The little dress if from a Fiskers clear stamp set.
Just took the long Happy Birthday and make a frame.
I signed the back of these cards and the Valentine cards using Hero Arts "So Artsy" clear set. Now the sad part. I have to clean up my mess now.

I also want to thank you so much for your sweet comments that you left regarding my Valentine cards.

Work With Handmade Papers

2012-01-23T12:21:00.000-08:00

Over the weekend Ms. "L" and I got together to do some card making. I have been looking at these beautiful hand made papers that my Daughter purchased a couple of years ago for a project that she was doing and she gave me the left overs. There were a lot of nice left overs too.

The Valentine sentiments is a new dollar stamp that I purchased at Michael's.
I wanted to keep the cards simple.
I used my Spellbinders heart dies.
I purchased a sheet of this pretty glitter paper from the Paper Source store (we have a store in Pasadena). It is made in Germany and they had some other colors too. It was a nice long sheet for $3.95. It was a beautiful red and it went perfect with the hand made papers.
The photos do not capture the sparkle in the glitter paper.

The foil die cuts are from the Je t'adore die packet by Making Memories.

It was fun making simple cards using hand made papers. Thank you for stopping bye. Have a great day.

A Quick Quilt Project

2012-01-17T12:30:00.000-08:00

Over the weekend I finished a mini wall hanging quilt block. I finished my hand embroidery design and wanted to do a quick project and send it to a family member.

The heart design was a free download from Bird Brain Design. A nice blog and they have some great embroidery products too.
I love red fabric.

Simple stippling around the heart, used a few decorative stitches on my sewing machine and some yo-yo's. I have a few other small sewing projects that I hope to complete in the next couple of weeks and then I want to get back into more hand embroidery.

I also attempted to make some hand millinery flowers using a couple of my paper punches.
They are hard to find in the stores and online I really do not need to buy a 100 of one color. So I gave it a try and I do like the way they came out.
The two small punches.
This is what I used for the flower centers. I purchased these at Michael's in the bridal section for $1.99. I did add some glue to the center to hold the floral spray in place.
Thanks for stopping bye and have a wonderful day.

Orange In My Garden & Some Garden Journal Pages

2012-01-16T09:02:00.000-08:00

Photos of what is blooming the my garden. Not too much but the beautiful Echeveria is giving its showing of orange spikes.

Of course the nasturtiums. This one plant has filled in nicely in the raised bed.
I did sow more of the "Fiesta Blend" in hopes of getting a few other colors in the seed packet.

One of the the "Fiesta Blend" is a nice trailing one and I have it growing on a small garden trellis. I would like to buy more trellis for the garden.
I have also used one of the tomato cages as a trellis. The "Mahogany" nasturtium is a compact variety. I have one growing in front of the house and it growing into a round shaped plant also. I do deadhead the nasturtium plants frequently. If not, they will not produce as many flowers and they do go to seed quickly. I hope to save some of the seeds for next year.

Some of my garden pages from January 1st - January 15th.
I did start with a photo of the rose and vegetable area on January 1st.
For my journaling I will either write on the kraft page or lined index cards, tags and journal spots downloaded from the internet.
I just purchased a SMASH dated stamp from 1-2-3 Stitch. I did see some at Michael's craft store too.

You can used just the date or one of the sentiments.
I thought it was kinda of fun to have.
A very simple garden book and I hope I will keep it up.
Thanks for visiting and Have a nice day.

More Valentine's

2012-01-10T12:41:00.000-08:00

Here are a few more Valentine projects. One sheet of this beautiful double sided paper from Creative Imagination. This is the Devotion Collection created by Iron Orchid Designs (I bought last year). Again, I should have purchased more. I have one more sheet that is different but I am not sure if I will be using it this year.

Used my fun Spellbinder heart dies, heart punches, half-back pearls and a dove from the die cut pack by Making Memories (Je t'adore collection). The ribbon has a suede feel to it.
The foil heart and Valentine banner is also from the Je t'adore die shape packet. It went perfect with this paper too.
With the scraps I used my small dies and paper punches. I did not want to wast any of this paper. I used a file card for a tag and embossed it using a Cuttlebug heart folder.
Another window card.
Thanks for your visit and hope you are having a lovely day.

Je t'adore Valentine's Projects

2012-01-06T12:34:00.000-08:00

Here are some finished Valentines that I made using Making Memories Je t'adore (last years collection) paper. This was only using a few sheets.

I will add ribbon to make them hanging hearts. I used my heart die cuts, paper flowers, rosette die cut by Tim Holtz and of course Stickles.

Using empty cereal boxes I used one of the small die cut hearts to make chip board hearts. To make them more chunky just layer the chip board hearts a couple of time with a glue stick. Then add decorative paper, glitter and edge the heart with white acrylic paint. Using white paint mades the heart pop on the card.
A fun window card using one of my new die cuts. I am using for the first time a neat and fun product by Viva, a pearl pen. Just dot where you want a dot of pearl. That was a gift from Ms. "L". Thank you!

I did buy the packet of die cut shapes that when along with the paper collection, tons of dies in the packet. I just used one of the hearts and an embossing folder for a quick and simple card.
Die shapes from the packet.
Die cut hearts using Spellbinders heart dies.
I also make a few pocket Valentines.
Here are the pockets that I purchased a while ago. I covered them up with the paper and embellished. I did not use the tags that came with the set. I just made my own.

A tea bag fits perfect in the little pocket that I made using the bottom portion of the heart die (negative part).

Used that pearl pen around the heart.

The vintage image is a Dover sticker that I purchased last year. I adhered the sticker to white card stock to give it support and then I cut it out. I added some Stickles also.
Now it is time to regroup for more paper crafting. Thanks for stopping bye. Have a great day.

Back to Crafting

2012-01-05T08:13:00.000-08:00

I'm starting to work on my Valentines projects. I am work with some beautiful papers from Making Memories line called Jet'adore. I bought a few sheets last year and I am sorry that I did not buy more. I will be showing you soon some finished items.

In the garden, I did sow more lettuce seeds and will be sowing more snap peas. The weather here in Southern California is just gorgeous. It feels like summer instead of winter.

Well, need to get back to my after the holiday cleaning. Hope you are having a good day.

Thanks for the visit.

Laguna Beach, CA

2012-01-02T07:25:00.000-08:00

Here are some photos of our outing to Laguna Beach. It was perfect weather to visit one of our California beaches. A bit foggy but the sun came through.
Hubby has come here to oil paint a few times.
It is a painters and photographers delight. Everywhere a great scenery. The tide pool area. They beach provides nice access to different areas of the beach.
A perfect time to take Opie. This is the off season but during the months of June - September dogs are not allowed on the beach.
We forgot our tripod so this is the best we can do.

Opie was a little nervous with the people and the sounds of the ocean. He did meet a lot of other four legged friends too.
Once the sun broke through the colors just popped.

A nice outing indeed.

Happy New Year's

2012-01-01T05:00:00.000-08:00

A new year and I have a lot of items on my Things to Do in 2012 list. I have entered all my important dates to remember in my daily planner that I made a few months ago and I hope to be updating my new garden journal too.

The finished project.

Here is the finished cover to my 2011 garden mini album. I used part of the paper stack front cover and added it to make the cover to my album. The numbers are chip board "thickers" that came in white and I just painted them green. The garden embellishments are stickers that I purchased a few years ago (Martha Stewart).

I added lace/trim to the inside fasteners to give a finished look.

What do you have on your To Do list for 2012?

Wishing you in 2012 good health, peace and joy.

Thanks for all your comments that you have left on my blog. I have enjoyed them all. : )

December 2011 Layout of My Garden Mini Album

2011-12-28T07:54:00.000-08:00

A quick post to show you the last pages of my garden mini for 2011.

Just need to to do the front of the album and I'm going to keep it real simple.

It was a fun mini album to do.

Now on to 2012. : )

Last Garden Photos of 2011

2011-12-27T09:55:00.001-08:00

Just a few photos.
It has been a good year in my garden.
I thought this pink Christmas cactus was a goner.
What a nice surprise.
I'm already thinking of my summer garden.
One of the Fiesta Blend nasturtium is a trailing one.
It has a nice big orange flower on it.
We are having some nice mild days with pretty blue skies here in Southern California.

Next on the garden list, trimming down the roses and repotting a lot of my container plants.

Thanks for your visit and have a wonderful day.

Nasturtium "Mahogany" and Some Red Work

2011-12-23T08:15:00.001-08:00

I was so happy to see one of my Mahogany nasturtium in bloom.

The seeds are from Botanical Interests.

And some Red Work. It is nice to get back into some simple stitching.

I downloaded a free pattern from Bird Brain Designs. I used my little light box and an black Micron pen (.05). I did not have a red pen but the black did okay. I used red perle cotton, No. 8 thread in color number #321.
I have started to give out my Christmas cookies to my neighbors and spending time with my Daughter. It is nice having her home.

Merry Christmas everyone. I will be back next year. : )

A Little More Decorations

2011-12-16T14:00:00.000-08:00

Here and there.

I put up my Daughters Christmas tree in her room. It is a cute green tinsel tree that she purchased at Michaels a couple of years ago.

A few items on her dresser.
A project that she did sometime ago. She just covered up the wood letters with paint and scrapbook papers. She added glitter to the outside of the letters to give them some shimmer.
I think I posted this wall quilt last year. I need something else for the wall. Maybe a shelf.

Now for some tea. : )

Thanks for stopping bye. Have a wonderful weekend.

Gardening In Winter

2011-12-13T06:09:00.000-08:00

I know, it really does not look like Winter but it is. Photos taken over the weekend and yesterday we had some nice rain. According to our rain gauge we received 3/4".

The snap peas pods. It has been a slow start but I hope by next month the garden will start to fill.

Transplanted into the vegetable area the three larger brussels sprouts. Now I need to keep those white little moths away. They just love to eat ways at my garden.

Cleared out the tomatoes and I will start to sow them in late February. Yep, I am already thinking of my summer garden. I have in my new garden book that next month I need to look through my seed catalogs and see what I want to grown for the summer.
One of the smaller brussels sprouts. I have about five more about this size. Next month they will join the other three.
The red kalanchoe has a lot of buds.
A couple of photos of my maple leaf geranium. Need to dusting this one also to keep the moths away.
Just getting the house ready for my Daughter to come home this weekend. That is my Christmas present. : )

A photo of my little Christmas tree. Very hard to get a good picture of it. I was going to buy a larger one, but Opie is not ready for one. Maybe next year. He was terrified when I took this one out of of the box.

Thanks for the visit and hope you have a wonderful day.

November Garden Mini Page Layout

2011-12-10T05:00:00.000-08:00

Another quick post to show you November layout on my garden mini book.

One more month to go and we will be in a new year.

Christmas Tags

2011-12-08T05:00:00.000-08:00

Just a few more Christmas tags. Using left over paper, ribbon and embellishments that I used for making this years cards. Also, here too.

Very simple tags. The only embellishments that I have left are some border stickers. Happy to have use up all my Christmas paper and embellishments. Next year I will only use, or try to use stamp images. Maybe some ribbon and half back pearls here and there. The plan for next years Christmas cards, that I will not buy any decorative paper or stickers. I want to used my stamps as much as possible.

Thanks for the your visit and hope you are having a good day. Blessings!

A December Birthday Card

2011-12-06T05:00:00.000-08:00

A quick post to show you a December birthday card. It is an accordion style card. I have done this style of card before. It was used as a mini photo album.

I used a variety of stamp images. From dollar bin stamps purchased from Michaels and Jo-Ann's and Pinkpaisless, TPC Studio and Martha Stewart Alpha stamp set. The papers were a mix of DCWV's "rustic" and Lost & "Found" by My Minds Eye. I used kraft card stock for the base of the card.

Cut out labels and tags to insert in the folds of the card.

Thanks for your visit and have a wonderful day.

The Littlest Reindeer

2011-12-04T14:05:00.001-08:00

Really Momma, do I have to were these?
Okay, just one picture.
Please do not tell the other dogs about this.

A Windy Start

2011-12-02T13:14:00.000-08:00

The first day of December and Southern California experience some extreme winds. A few trees in our neighborhood came down but no one was hurt. The garden did get a thrashing but nothing lost. I thought I was going to lose my trellis but it stood the winds.

A photo of the snap peas.
Did some decorating and hung on my little tree a couple of my tags I made a few month back.
Did some tag making for a few gifts. Used up some of the left over scraps from the Christmas cards that I made.

We are now into the full swing of the Christmas season. I hope everyone of you will have some great memories with family and friends. I can't wait for my Daughter to come home and I'm counting the days. : ) The next thing on my "To-Do" list is to get my baking supplies so I can start to get my cookie dough and mini breads done. Baking this time of the year is one of my favorite things to do. What is your favorite thing to do during the Christmas season?

Thanks for stopping bye and have a wonderful day.

Blessings!

Farewell To November

2011-11-29T13:32:00.000-08:00

Just some photos of Opie. Loves to run in the leaves at the park.

Now that we head into December, I think of the blessings the three of us had this year. There were some ups and downs but that goes without saying.
Need to continue to keep my focus on Christ and keep the faith.

Opie loves to find pine cones, rocks, leaves and sticks on his walks. He will keep them in his mouth for a while on his walk.

I need to think like my dog and remember it is really the simple things in life that make me really happy.
Wishing everyone a nice and simple day. : )

He is too cute.

A Beautiful Day

2011-11-27T14:22:00.001-08:00

What a beautiful Thanksgiving Hubby and I had. Lots of food, friends, family and great weather. We were expecting rain, but it missed us. My Daughter said it rained where she is at.

The trees in the neighborhood are giving us a beautiful show of fall colors.
Sunday, nice warm weather with some Santa Ana winds.
I did plant a few more Snap peas in the ground today.
I cut some cilantro for my Spanish rice.
The parsley is doing nice and I will cut some for tomorrow meat loaf.
First course for tonights dinner will be some nice fresh lettuce.

and I will add some tomatoes from the garden. This is the first year that I am able to have home grown tomatoes and lettuce growing at the same time. A real treat.
Found the little culprit who has been eating my nasturtium leafs. I need to go out and look for them every couple of days. Today those little white moths were just hovering around the plants.
I hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving here in the States and also enjoying a nice weekend. Hope to get some Christmas decorating done this week and start some of my cookie dough. Thanks for the visit and have a great day.

Getting Ready For Christmas

2011-11-19T07:38:00.001-08:00

Just a quick hello and hope everyone is doing well. I just want to show you the tags I made for my baking this year.
I used scraps of paper and these filing cards that I picked up at Staples office center last year. I thought they would make some nice tags.
I just purchased from PaperTray Ink a new set of Christmas stamps and die set. This is called "Love Lives Here: Holiday". It has a lot of wonderful stamp images and sentiments. I think I am set for Christmas stamps for a long while.
The kitchen sentiment is from a Fiskars stamps set called "Recipe Madness" . The inks I used were black onyx by Versa Mark and PaperTray Ink in pure poppy and spring moss.
Edged around the tags using the Spring Moss ink.

Thanks for stopping bye and have a great day and HAPPY THANKSGIVING.

What is Growing In The Garden?

2011-11-15T17:15:00.001-08:00

A photo of one of my brussels sprouts, called "long island improved". So far so good. I did sow a few more.
Pea snaps called "sugar snap". I will give them a couple more weeks before I plant them in the ground.
The beautiful and colorful mesclun lettuce called "Valentine".
The green lettuce is the "black seeded simpson".
Growing with the lettuce I have some parsley, cilantro and a "mahogany" nasturtium plant.
Along the garage I have a narrow long planting bed where I grew some of the bell peppers and basil over the summer so I thought I would plant a couple of the nasturtiums and see how they do here.
Now it is time to play. Opie was happy this morning to find one of his favorite balls under the bed.

Thanks for your visit. Have a great day.

Garden Mini Album Part 5

2011-11-11T05:00:00.000-08:00

The Nasturtium bud opened and what a beautiful bright color. The description on the seed packet reads, glorious deep red blossoms. Can't wait to see the other nasturtiums that I planted around the yard look like.

Now, a few photos that I added to my garden mini.

This page opens out for a journal area and a small photo. The next layout will be of November and the last two pages will be of December.
The year is almost done. Wow!

Have a great weekend.

November Gardening 2011

2011-11-07T10:26:00.001-08:00

Here are some photos of the garden. We had a nice rain over the weekend and it brought us an inch of rain. So far the total (according to our rain gauge in the backyard) is 3-1/2 inches and that is a great start. The photos are of one of the nasturtiums and this one is the Mahogany. It dose not look in color mahogany but that is what I planted in the raised bed. I do have some of the Fiesta Blend which are the yellow, orange and striped in those colors. I think it depends on the soil too.

The plant has a lot of tiny buds on it. This will add a nice punch of color for Fall and Winter in the garden.
The one raise and coming along nicely.
lettuce mesclun "valentine"
Black Seeded Simpson lettuce
Which will be great for tonights dinner.
Prior to me doing any garden minis I was using blank journal books that you can pick up just about anywhere. I started to journal back in 2000 and find it helpful.
I add photos, journal what was grown in each growing seasons and what did not do so well in the garden too. I included the weather for the week or month.
Places where flowers and vegetables were planted.
What to sow for the coming months.
Of course photos of the beauties in my garden. This is a really simple way to keep track of your garden without any expense on fancy books, composition books work great too. Next year I will be using a 3 ring binder. I hope this may also give you some ideas to keep record of your garden.

Thanks for visit. Have a great day.

Garden Mini Album Part 4 - Summer 2011

2011-11-05T08:51:00.001-07:00

Just a quick post to show the progress on my 2011 Garden Mini. I have completed the Summer section, just need one area for journaling then I will start the Fall and Winter section.

It was a perfect day yesterday to work on the mini because we had some rain, 3/4" inch. Not bad to the start of our rain season and more is on the way.

It was fun to use my dies, sticker, stamps, punches and other miscellaneous embellishments to complete each of the pages.
I copied the seed packet image and used it as a journal tag.
The pocket section opens up to add a couple more photos. The photos help me when I go to plant next years vegetables. Need to try and plant them in a different area. Very hard to do because I am working with a small space. But next year I may plant the cucumbers where the tomatoes were this year.

The page opens out for more photos. I had more photos then space.

This was just a pocket but I realized the photos would fall out so I made a flap to hold them in. I used some circle magnets for the pocket closure.
I backed the photos with paper and used the back for my journaling. I did a large journal spot to talk about the summer garden.
The last page and another pocket. I should have known that Summer would have tons more of photos. I just need to add some tags to identify the succulents.
I used the scraps of paper from the paper collection for the tags. I hope to begin the Fall section in the next couple of days.

I hope this may give you some ideas to start a journal book, diary or photo album of your garden.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day.

Happy Halloween

2011-10-30T05:49:00.000-07:00

Here is the card that I made for my Daughter. The decorative papers that I used are from the 6 x 6 petite paper pad by Pinkpaislee's Hocus Pocus. The base of the card is purple card stock. The chandelier on the decorative paper gave me an idea to use the beautiful victorian Magenta cling rubber stamp. I had in my mind the haunted house at Disneyland.

The die shape is from Spellbinders number 18, the leave branches are a sizzlits die from Sizzix. For those of you who are not familiar with dies cuts, a sizzlits is a thin die that cuts only cardstock, vellum and paper (most dies you can use thin chipboard). Sometime using cardstock on a sizzlit die you my have to run it through twice depending on the design of the die. I used on the egdes all the papers and leaves, Adirondack acrylic pain dabber in "pitch black". The sentiment is a rub-on from my Daughters stash. Purple bling from my stash.
Inside of the card. I used a Crafty Secrets bingo card image for a pocket.
The bird on the card came from this packet birds that I purchased at Jo-anns $1.00 bin. I just used the dabber paint and a bling for the eye.
He is a nice added touch to the card.

Thanks for stopping by and Happy Halloween.

Some Fall Gardening

2011-10-24T13:35:00.001-07:00

Another perfect day to do some gardening and picture taking also. I find it hard to take a nice photo of some of my roses that are bright color.
Today was the perfect photo day for this mini rose here. This is the oldest rose in my yard. We have it in a large container and it is due for a new container soon.
It is a beautiful coral mini and blooms up until-till Christmas time. No, I do not have the name for this one either. But it is on the "todo" list in the category "Need to Identify".

Such a pretty mini to have and love the color.
A photo of my only raised bed. I'm thinking I want another one but one that it taller for vegetables that have long roots. Just added some shredded redwood bark to it. Love the smell of redwood bark. I have one the the nasturtiums along with the lettuce.
This is a new sprout of a brussels sprouts.
This is the Black Seeded Simpson lettuce. The lettuce is really taking its time at growing.
The "Valentine" mesclun lettuce. Will start to sow more and often.
The nasturtium leaves look like little lilly pads. In the raised bed I have the "Mahogany".
But there a tiny caterpillar that loves to eat my leave on the potted nasturtiums. So far the ones that I have planted in the grown seem to be fine.

Next week I will start to add these to the ground or containers. One of the Sugar snap peas that I planted in the ground did not make it, it happens. The other two seem to be doing well and I have more seedling starting to pop up.
Here is my boy. What a good boy.

Thanks for stopping by and hope to have more garden photos to share with you soon.

Scrapbook Layout and A Card

2011-10-21T11:16:00.001-07:00

Here are my latest photo layouts. These are 12 x12 and the photo album that I am using is from Creative Memories. Is is their "Coversets" and it comes in different colors also. You buy the refill pages and page protector sheets separate. The pages come in nice colors. I have been using the natural for awhile, but they do come in black, spargo and white. I am a big fan of these albums for years. Here is there website : www.creativememories.com
I think I am a very simple scrapper. My journal spot is using the neat fonts on my Mac and used a $1.00 stamp from Jo-Anns (the cute doggie).
Fussy cut out words from a 12 x 12 sheet of decorative paper by DCWV. I have be using this line on Opie's photo album, HERE.

I find it fun to see how many photos I can get on one page without looking messy. I think when you do this it lets your photos tell the story.

I have used this stamps set a lot on cards and on prior layouts. I stamped the images on the same decorative papers that I used for the beach layouts. The papers I am using are from K&Company called Brookfield a Brenda Walton design. It is a fast way to add color to your stamps.
Here is the set called "Antique Engraving", by Hero Arts.
Here are some layouts of our trip to the Mission. The pretty decorative paper with the butterfly is from K&Company paper pad called "Nature" by Susan Winget. This along with the specialty paper pad I will be using in my next years garden journal and other projects.
I have been into making some of my photos into different sizes. The papers I used for the side borders and journaling spots are from "Nature" paper pad too. I used my computer for journaling, Spellbinders die and also a Hero Arts stamp called "Silhouette Spray".

The textured brown paper is a Coredinations paper "sand it, tear it, emboss it, love it". The color is called brownie. Here is a close up of one of the journaling tags. You can see the stamp image too.

With the left over scraps I made a card.

Kraft card stock for the base of the card. Same "brownie" paper and I ran it through a Sizzix embossing folder called Twizzle. I used a sanding pad to the embossed paper to give a distressed look. A scrap of the decorative paper and stamped the "silhouette spray" stamp in brown, Spellbinders die number 18 using the back side of the decorative paper. The stamped sentiment is a Michaels $1.00 bin stamp and the dragonfly stamp is from the "Antique Engraving" set. Martha Stewart butterfly punch, organza ribbon and charm from my stash.

Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day. : ) It's FRIDAY too!!! Hope your Friday is going good.

A Bit of This And That

2011-10-20T06:29:00.000-07:00

Some photos of what is going on in my little world.

The weather has finally cooled down and it feels a bit more like fall. The photo of the "Sunsprite"patio tree rose was taken on a nice foggy day. Perfect weather to take photos.
The roses in my garden are still blooming and giving off some amazing growth. I have started this week to sow more seeds of snap peas and brussels sprouts. The other brussels sprout seeds have already sprouted, very excited about them.
The photo of this adorable Corgi is Opie's Momma, Decker. Last weekend we drove to see her and other dogs and a local dog rally. So my little boy Opie really gets his looks for his Mother.
A photo of a simple layout. At the scrapbooking crop I was able to get 15 layout down and I now I need to do the finishing touches to the layouts, journaling and embellishments, if needed. The photos on this layout were from National Scrapbook Day back in April of this year. The paper flowers on this page were the ones that I won in one of their many drawings they had. I used my scalloped die set along with some of my stamps. The "friends" sentiment is really two set of stamps. I used one stamp that stamped out "friend"and from an alphabet set I found a "S" that went perfect. I need to be more creative using my stamps by mixing and matching a single stamp or stamp sets. I also used a leaf punch and some green scraps of paper from my scrap box.
Another plant that self sows in my yard are the Morning Glories. We just let them grown along the porch railing. The sign is an old one that was given to use as a house warming gift many years ago.
A photo of the pretty and bright flowered marigolds. I had to do some serious trimming. The rain we had a couple of weeks ago did some damage to the bush.

I hope everyone is doing well. I like to hear what is going on in your garden or any projects that you may be working on.

Thanks for stopping by. Have a great day.

Friday Morning

2011-10-14T08:35:00.001-07:00

Here is a morning photo of a beautiful sunrise here in Southern California. At the moment we are have some hot days, but by next week it should cool down.

Here are some photos of Opie and during his morning walk.
Opie love this park and it's one of his favorite places to be walked.

Played with the ball in the back yard after our walk then it was in the pen for a while so I could do some gardening. Opie needs to be in the pen because he will not leave the wood chips alone or stay out of the mud.
Good boy Opie.

Here are some herbs and veggies staring to grow.

The brussels sprouts are starting to sprout. The seeds are from Botanical Interests called "Long Island Improved". I need to start looking in the vegetable area where they will go and when to sow more of them. Sowing for them is from late summer to early spring.
Hubby put up the mesh fencing last weekend and we added some compost to the area too.
This morning I planted the Pea Snaps in the ground. These are called "Sugar Snap" and the seeds are also from Botanical Interests. The seeds were sowed on September 21st.
Some rose photos for you.

Have a beautiful weekend.

Garden Mini Album Part 2

2011-10-11T12:12:00.001-07:00

Just wanted to show you the first pages of my garden mini. I'm working on the summer photos. Here is where I did the spring photos, and HERE. The papers are DCWV paper pad Garden Party.

Made a simple tag and added some pretty Susan Branch stickers. Love the quote on top. The back of the tag I will add some journaling.
I did not have enough space for the photo I wanted to add to this page. I did not want to cover up the pretty paper so I made a mini file folder. I used a butterfly punch, tags/tabs from the paper collection, dollar stamps and Karen Foster garden rub ons.
A journal area.
Used one of the border strips from the collection to make some pockets for the photos.
I used some paper punches as tabs.
Stamped on the back a few of my journal stamps.
Here are the next couple of pages that I will be working on next.
Thanks for the visit and have a great day. It is beautiful here today. : )

Christmas Card & Tags and Some Roses

2011-10-08T11:43:00.001-07:00

For the past couple of weeks I have been playing with some pretty papers from Melissa Frances. I purchased a few sheets a couple of months ago and I'm sorry that I did not buy more. But, I'm sure there will be more beautiful papers by her.I was making my Daughter her christmas card and thought of using the rest of these beautiful dimensional victorian stickers by Punch Studio. I purchase these a few years ago and they went perfect with the papers. I used Spellbinders Nestabilities labels #18, half back pearls, Stickles in diamond and frosted lace and inked the edges.

Here are the sheets of decorative papers from Melissa Frances. The holly one is called Ginger #PA346.
The blue, Cindy-Luo #PA348 and the red Clarice PA345.
Using a Our Daily Bread snow flake die (the stamp set is below). This is just a test card for next year because I'm done making my Christmas cards for this year.
I can't wait to start playing with this set for next years cards.
Also played with the rosette die by Tim Holtz.
I put a few of them to use. I made a few more cards using up the rest of the decorative papers.

Very simple cards. I will show you the one for my Daughter at a later time.

In The Garden:

Just took my tripod out at took some more photos of a few of the roses. A gorgeous day here in Southern California. We will be back up into some warmer weather but start to cool down by next weekend.
I took a few photos of one the the new-be roses that we inherited so I can take them to my local garden center and see if they can identify it. That is a goal of mine, is to try to identify the roses that I either lost the tags or inherited.

Here is another names less mini that I bought years ago.
I produces beautiful clusters of mini roses.

A photo of the rose area and you can see Hubby in the background. He is added some compost to the vegetable area. The snap peas are just about ready to put into the ground.

This week, I will be getting my photos ready for a crop. The goal is to do 15 pages. I have some what of an idea of the layouts.

Thanks for your visit and hope to blog soon.

A Fall Mini Photo Card

2011-10-06T15:20:00.000-07:00

A fun card that I made into a quick photo mini album. The papers are kraft, scraps from DCWV's "rustic" paper pad, and put to use of the die cut leaves I made. Stamp sentiments is from TPC Studio.
The idea came from the fabulous magazine that I purchased last year.
This cards was designed by Melony Bradley. I did a search of her blog and this is the only Melony Bradley that comes up, here. It is a fabulous blog with a lot of neat craft ideas.

You start out with a 12 x 5-1/2 inch piece of card stock. Then score at the inches of 5,5 1/2, 6, 6 1/2 and 7. start the fold with the valley. Instead of photos Melony added strips of paper and stamped sentiments. This type of card has a lot of possibilities.
The photos were from our quick trip to pick apples. I made the book for my Daughter.

The stamp is from Hero Arts "So Artsy" clear stamp set.

Also, we had are first rain here in Southern California. Looked out at our rain gauge and we received 2-1/2 inches, not bad. The prediction for this year is moderate rain fall.

Saturday Morning In The Garden

2011-10-02T05:00:00.000-07:00

Just a few photos of the beautiful Yves Piaget - hybrid tea on my garden break.

This rose bush is growing out wide then upright, so far. I can see several of these planted along a long white wood fence.

A nice warm October morning.

Now for more information about my Marigold bush "Marigold French "Favourite blend". From Botanical Interests.
This bush is hugh. It is about 4 feet wide.
It is starting to crowed a few of my roses bushes, not good but I did not realize how wide it was going to get.
A lot of green but the blooms are overtaken by the green foliage.
A persecutive of size. Hubby is 5' 11.
Some photos of the potted Rose Gilardi.
It will get repotted this year.
Thanks for your visit. Have a wonderful day. : )

"BOO!!" Banner

2011-09-30T07:00:00.001-07:00

This banner will be sent to my Daughter very soon. (she received it last night in the mail)

All the papers came from her very own stash too. I don't think she will mind me using her stuff for her. :) I used my Spellbinders label die number 8 for the banner using cereal boxes. The decorative paper is from Pinkpaislee's line called "hocus pocus".
She also had these cute stamps too. I'm not much of a Halloween person but I may have to set a set or two in the future. I know that she purchases this stamp set at Jo-Anns last year, but I'm not sure what stamp company.
The flowers were made from the Tim Holtz "tattered floral" die. I sprayed starch (a light spray), scrunched up, used the heat gun to dry them, uncurled them carefully. Used black acrylic paint on the edges and also on the edges of the banner.

I went to my local scrapbook store to use their letter dies.

These pretty metal embellishments, also from my Daughters stash, were used as flower centers.

My latest die. It was a gift. : ) I can't wait to use on my future projects. It is a Tim Holtz Alterations mini paper rosettes (it cuts to different sizes).

Thanks for your visit and have a great weekend. See my next post of Fall cards.

Some Fall Cards

2011-09-30T07:00:00.000-07:00

Last weekend I got together with a Dear friend, Ms. "L" to do some card making and here are some photos to share with you.
The decorative papers used on the Halloween cards are a mix of some Martha Stewart (from 2007) and Pinkpaislee "hocus pocus" paper. The vintage images are from Crafty Secrets "Heartwarming Vintage" sheets, (from last year) called Halloween Greetings. I have plenty of paper and images for next year too.

The solid card stock used on the Halloween cards were kraft, Bazzill basics called "Classic Purple", Coredinations Foundations- canvas texture in "golden".

The bird stamp is from Inkidinkado dollar stamps, from Ms. L's stamp inventory, and the stamp set that I used on the Halloween banner. On the purple card a Sizzix embossing folder was used. A black dabber paint on the edges of most of the cards.

And some Thanksgiving and one birthday cards.
"Autumn blessings" is from TPC Studio and the wheat stamp is from Hero Arts called "silhouette grass", #S5316 . The solid papers are kraft, Coredinations foundations Pearls in copper, Coredinations Vintage Collection in burnt sugar, Coredinations Sand it, tear, it emboss it, love it in brownie and Coredinations foundations canvas texture in Golden. The decorative papers are from DCWV's "Rusctic" paper pad.

The inside of the cards. This would look good as the front of the card too.
The birthday stamps came from Ms. L's stamp stash. They are from Hero Arts. The embossing is from Cuttlebug folder called "Moroccan Screen" and die cut labels.

The Nature sentiment is from the Jo-ann's dollar bin. The dragonfly came from my new die set that I received as a gift from Ms. L.

This beautiful die cut set is from Spellbinders.
I used the negative of the dragonfly as a stencil.

I posted this card a while back and I was not completely satisfied with it, so I added the butterfly (K&Company). Did some stamping on the inside of the card.
The stamp images are from Pinkpaisless "Butterfly Garden" set. A big favorite of mine. I stamped the same floral image around the paper to give it a framed look. Just keep turning the stamp to give it a different look.
Thank you for your visit and I hope you have the best day ever.

Marigold French "Favourite Blend"

2011-09-28T14:40:00.001-07:00

It was a nice pretty Fall day so I took out my camera and tripod to get a few photos of the Marigold Flowers.
The seeds came from Botanical Interests.
What pretty shaped petals. The packet shows flowers in yellow and yellow with red/orange centers but I guess not this time. Maybe next year those seeds may sprout.

Have a wonderful day.

A Fall Bouquet of Roses

2011-09-26T05:00:00.000-07:00

What a beautiful weekend Southern California had. Here are some photos of this pretty bouquet of roses.

The two small orangey/red roses are the Tuscan Sun roses, yellow Gina Lollobrigida and the two large pink rose are the Sweet Surrender roses.
A perfect Princess de Monaco rose.
Gina Lollobrigida and Tuscan Sun roes.

Thanks for your visit and hope you had a nice weekend too.

Happy Fall 2011

2011-09-23T05:00:00.000-07:00

I can't believe that Summer is officially over and we are getting into Holiday mode. I'm already thinking of Thanksgiving and what I'm going to bake for Christmas.
The photo on my Blog header was a close up of my miniature maple tree. This tree has been with us for 15 years and hope we can enjoy it for many more years.
The nasturtiums have started to sprout and I have already planted one in the raised bed next to the lettuce. I think I will plant a couple in containers and find some areas in garden.

The roses are still blooming nicely. Here is a nice bouquet of Ronald Reagan roses (hybrid tea).
A little California Flicker on a Gina Lollobrigida rose (hybrid tea).
Our Summer garden is just about over. I need to stagger my sowing of my vegetables. Our weather here is still nice through October.
A pretty Sweet Surrender bud (hybrid tea).
I have started to print out my photos of my summer garden for the second part of my garden mini. I have a lot of photos so I extra pages will be added.
Here are some of the blank pages.
The papers are from DCWV "Garden Party" paper pad.
Sweet Surender roses. Thanks for your visit and hope to show you a finished quick project.

Have a wonderful day.

A Lot Of Cards To Share With You

2011-09-16T14:00:00.000-07:00

I have been making more cards and I here they are.
For the first set of cards I used two sheets of double sided decorative papers from Pinkpaislee's line called Sweetness. I have used the brown floral for my 2012 planner book and a couple of birthday cards. I have one more from the collection which has more amazing flowers with a blue background. Hope to use that soon in a project.
Here is another sheet from the collection.
This is going out to a newly engaged couple.
With the left over papers I made a few extra cards.

The bible scripture stamp is from Our Daily Bread Designs .

Here are a few more sympathy cards.

A gate fold card and the decorative papers that I used for these cards came from K&Company Floral paper pad.

The stamp images are from Hero Arts clear set.
Here are some pretty stickers and die cut packages by K&Company that I have bought over the past few months when they were on sale or with a coupon.
Here are the images that you get in the die packet. It is a quick way to put a layout or card together.

Very simple cards.
Thanks for the visit. : )

Have a great weekend.

"Sow" It Begins

2011-09-15T15:10:00.000-07:00

Some lettuce seeds have already started to sprout.
Here are some new fiber containers for seed sowing. I purchased these from Armstrong Nursery center. They are now carrying these instead of the peat pots. They are fragile so you will need to put them into garden trays. This is the first time I am using them so I will let you know how they do. The soil I am using to start my seedling is from EB Stone.
I did have to move my pansy seedling to the garden shade. I think they need more warmth during the night. I will give them another week. If I do not see anything I will start a new set of seedlings.

A Birthday Card For My Daughter

2011-09-13T05:00:00.000-07:00

Here is the card that I made from my Daughter. The papers that I used were from the Lost and Found collection by My Mind's Eye. Very pretty papers that are double sided. My Mind's Eye has their latest "Lost and Found" collection. Here is a YouTube by Blue Moon Scrapbooking (an on line store) were you can see the new collection.

I used kraft card stock for the base of the card. The papers from the collection that I used are called Madison Avenue "Happily Ever After" #LF1059 and Union Square "Home Sweet Home" #LF1095. The flowers were from my Daughter flower stash. The leaves were punched out from the left over paper. I ran the leaves through the Fiskars paper crimper and inked the edges. Brown half back pearls, scalloped punch, Spellbinders die (label 8).
I used some of left over paper for the inside of the card.
I hope she likes it and that she has a wonderful day too. Miss you Kiddo.

The Patio Area

2011-09-11T07:07:00.000-07:00

Here are some photos of the patio area where the container plants are really doing wonderful. The summer garden is coming to an end and I have started to sow seeds for the fall and early spring.

The three potted Confection JACute mini roses have bloomed so beautiful.
Hubby, a few months ago re-potted some of the succulents and they have started to bloom.
The Lithops (living stones) with their pretty white daisy like flowers.
My beautiful ivy geranium that produces gorgeous clusters of purple flowers. I have had this for several years and re-pot the plant every other year. I like the geraniums in containers in my garden. I did have say good bye to one of my hortorum variety. : ( But it will be replaced with another Pelargonium variety. I think they do best in my garden.

The weather here has cooled down to enjoy the weekend outside. This week, more sowing of seeds. I hope everyone had a great weekend.

HAVE A GREAT DAY!

A Gratitude of Thanks

2011-09-10T13:19:00.000-07:00

Over the week I have been making cards for our Men and Women that are serving our country. Our local scrapbook store sent an e-mail out to all their customers if they would like to participate.
I have been hanging on to these paper flowers that I won in a raffle at this years Creative Memories National Scrapbook Day. I was not sure how I was going to use them so I just scattered them on my table and see what I could come up with.
You get a lot of flowers in this packet too.

I had a lot of fun making them and I hope to be able to do this again. A big THANK YOU to our soldiers and their families. God bless you.

2012 Daily Planner

2011-09-07T12:00:00.000-07:00

Here is my 2012 Daily Planner book that I made using refill pages, heavy weight chipboard for the covers, rings and decorative paper by Pinkpaislee (Sweetness - picture perfect collection).

I use a daily planner/ calendars (I do not use my cell phone, ipad or computer for my important dates and appointments. That does not work for me) and I thought I would make my own. The idea came from Patty Van Dorin. I enjoy reading her blog and she is a gardener and is a very good crafter and artist. She has a wonderful Esty shop too. So, thanks Patty for all your inspiration.
The inside. The adhesive I used was Claudine Hellmuth - Studio multi-medium. It will give the covers some protection.
I purchased the refill pages at Staples for $12.99.

I added some filler paper for extra note taking. I used Adirondack acrylic paint dabber in "pitch black" around the edges of the chip board and decorative paper.
Back cover. I like the way it came out and I can't wait to use it.
A photo of Opie just keeping the Girls' seat warm at the dinner table. We do miss her. : ( But we will see her in a few months.

Getting Ready for Fall

2011-09-06T05:00:00.000-07:00

Over the long weekend Hubby and I did a lot of yard work and getting ready for some fall sowing. Here is a photo of the leaves changing on our miniature maple tree.

I did some Fall decorating around the house.

Pope John Paul II roses.
Getting my seeds ready.
This will be the first time that I will attempt to sow some brussels sprout seeds. I start them next month.
Getting my fall and winter reading ready.
A couple of my favorite decorations.
My Daughter made this beautiful paper flower wreath for me for my birthday last year. This was a kit purchased from the Paper Source store.
I have been doing some hand embroidery also. After I finished with it I decided to make another cover for the kitchen shelf.
The design came from Aunt Martha's hot iron transfers that I purchased for $1.49 at Jo-ann's.
The double lace that I used for the cover.
I love the saying. "Home is where I want to Bee!".

Hope you had a nice weekend too. Thanks for the visit and have a wonderful day.

Fall Birthday Cards

2011-09-02T05:53:00.000-07:00

A couple of fall birthday cards that I made using double sided Pinkpaislee's pattern paper called Sweetness - Picture Perfect. Love the rose design.

This first card was not what I had in mind.

I used the Tim Holtz distressing tool around the edge of the decorative paper and inked the edges. I used the gold leaf pen around the base of the card(used kraft card stock) and on the edge of one of the labels. The flower came from my Daughters embellishment stash, Hero Arts paper flowers and a half back pearl for the center. The brown ribbon was in my ribbon box. Stamp is from TPC Studio Birthday cling set purchased at Jo-Ann's

This was going to be layered and used as the front of the card but it did not look good at all.
I used stickles and on the dots I used some glossy accents. Maybe I went a bit overboard on the shimmer.
I kept cutting the paper down and I thought before I really mess it up, I would make it into a tag. I looked through my box of die cuts to see what would work. I have a box of all my die shapes to use as templates on my photo and card layouts.
I thought I should frame the roses instead.
Using the Spellbinders scalloped die set to cut out a frame.
I first cut another portion of the decorative paper down to a 4 1/4" x 5 1/2" to fit an A2 size card. Made sure to center the scalloped die. You can use some low tack tape to hold it in place.
The other side of the paper. I can use the scalloped die cut for a later use.

I use Adirondack acrylic paint dabber along the edges.
Used my computer to type out the sentiment and did come free hand cutting to get a banner shape. Inked the banner with some brown ink.

The left over paper from the 12 x 12. Another card I hope to show you soon.

Have a great weekend. It is a long weekend of us here in the States. We are celebrating Labor Day and it looks like some great weather too. : )

Quick Mini and A Tag

2011-08-31T20:00:00.000-07:00

A very fun, simple and quick way to put together a mini album out of a 12 x 12 sheet of paper. I found it on YouTube HERE, and you can see all the details of making one. A neat idea.

I made this for my Daughter and sent it along with her first care package. You can use it as an easel card too. Just scoring the paper at six inches and then turn the paper and score again at six inches and cut out one section, add decorative papers, photos, embellish and presto your done.

Opens up like a book.
Flips up and you can see one of the 6 x 6 sections that was cut out.
I also sent this tag to her too. She can use it as a book mark. I made this a while ago and I just added some stamping on the back.
Thanks for stopping bye, have a great day.

Some Fall Leaves

2011-08-30T09:57:00.000-07:00

Just making some fall embellishments using a Cuttlebug leaf die set. I used kraft card stock then stamped the leaves with a script stamp in black ink. Then I used a few of the distressing inks randomly. A few I put through my Fiskers crimper and I edged them with a gold leave pen.
Not sure how I'm going to use them but they are fun to make.

Have a nice day. We finally are getting some cooler weather here. : )

Some Cucumbers For You

2011-08-28T06:38:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a weeds, deadheading , mowing the lawn and heavy watering day. We are having some heat along with some humidity. It is really yucking out and today the same. The cucumber vines looked pretty with their little yellow flowers, so I took a few photos.
I saw this one and four more. They hide very well next the dark green lives. The four plants have given us a lot and enough for us to share, that is alway fun.
It was a very bright morning but the morning gardening was done early.

Just taking a small break and looking what Fall may bring in my garden.

My Very Own Artist

2011-08-27T08:38:00.000-07:00

I want to share with you what my Husband enjoys doing.

He loves to oil paint. In the past few years he has taken Plein Air classes. They are done in the early morning and about noon time it raps up. He also paint from photos we have taken on vacation. I hope he starting to do some of the rose garden. Hint Hint : )
I love his mini painting and this one he copied from an instruction book. This is hanging on my Daughter bedroom wall.
A class that was done in Malibu, Ca.
A photo from our vacation in Monterey a few years ago.
I change them out so I hope to show you more.
He is working on a farm scene that he took when he was overseas. My Daughter kept one of his practice sheets and framed. I like the way it looks in a frame.
Here is another practice sheet done on a canvas sheets. I told Hubby not to toss this away. I want to do something with it. I love ducks.

Cards of Faith

2011-08-24T11:37:00.000-07:00

Here are some cards using the scraps from my altered composition book. The papers are from the K&Company "Floral Dreams" specialty paper pad. I'm trying out my new stamp set from Our Daily Bread designs, "Faith" stamp cling set. They have beautiful scripture and image stamps. I saw this set on a creative card maker, Suzanne's Stamping Spot.

The set is for someone that I will be visiting soon.
Martha Stewart butterfly punch and flower strip die cut from My Favorite Things.
Here is one of the scripture stamps "Your love O Lord reaches to the heavens and your faithfulness to the skies, Psalm 36.5", butterfly stamp from Hero Arts and a lavender sticker (had that for a long time). Die cut scalloped oval and I distress the oval using Antique Linen.
The Faith is from the set.
Another from the set and the butterflies are Martha Stewart punch.
A card I made for her. I love the sentiment here from Mother Teresa -

"Be faithful in small things because it is in Them that your strength lies."

Amazing words by an amazing person.

Have a beautiful day!

Journal Entry

2011-08-23T06:58:00.000-07:00

A simple journal entry in my altered composition book. I took a photo of a beautiful redwood tree and was amazed of the size and beauty of it. I stood trying to take a good photo, no luck. It was not the right time of day and no tripod. I'm glad that I did not delete the photo of it from my camera. I started to read over the weekend "Sense and Sensibility" by Jane Austin and the beginning chapters were beautiful words about a tree and it reminded me of redwood tree.

The other side is a blank space for me to do an entry to write about the tree and the connection of the words the Author wrote.

Have an amazing day.

The Best Fudge Brownies Ever Recipe

2011-08-21T08:39:00.001-07:00

Opening up a new package of flour and on the back of the package was a brownie recipe that I needed to try. It is "Oh My Gosh Good"!

The Best Fudge Brownies Ever

1 cup (8 ounces) butter 1 tablespoon vanilla extract

2 1/4 cups sugar 4 large eggs

1 1/4 cups Dutch-process cocoa 1 1/2 cups (6 1/4 ounces King

1/2 teaspoon salt* Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour)

1 teaspoon baking powder 2 Cups (12-Ounce bag) chocolate chips**

Increase the salt to 1 teaspoon if you use unsalted butter.

** I used 10 ounces of the chocolate chips.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 9 x 12 -inch pan.

In a medium sized microwave-safe bowl, or in a saucepan set over low heat, melt the butter, then add the sugar and stir to combine. Return the mixture to the heat (or microwave) briefly, just till it’s hot, but not bubbling; it’ll become shiny looking as you stir it. Heating the butter and sugar a second time will dissolve more of the sugar, which will yield a shiny top crust on your brownies. Transfer the mixture to a mixing bowl.

Stir in the cocoa, salt, baking powder, and vanilla. Add the eggs, beating till smooth; then add the flour and chips, beating till well combined. Spoon the batter into the prepared pan (make sure the mixture is spread in the pan evenly).

Bake the brownies for 28 to 30 minutes, until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out dry (though it may have a few crumbs clinging to it). The brownies should feel set both on the edges, and in the center. Remove them from the oven, and after 5 minutes loosen the edges with a table knife; this helps prevent the brownies from sinking in the centers as they cool. Cool completely before cutting and serving. Yield: 2 dozen brownies

All I need is some vanilla ice cream.

Getting Ready for Fall

2011-08-20T13:02:00.000-07:00

Playing with an old pumpkin rubber stamp along with some newer clear stamps.

Stamped the image on white card stock (Georgia Pacific) and Tuxedo black by Memento.
Colored in with Prisma color pencils, inked up the card with Tim Holtz Distress Inks (walnut stain, tea dye and antique linen). The pumpkin stamp image is an old one by Rubber Stampede #A1078E.
I used on the edges Krylon 18kt. gold leafing pen. It was the perfect touch needed. Glitter would have been too much. The gold leafing pen was purchased at Jo-Ann's using my 50% coupon (regular price $6.99, but worth it).
I'm not sure how I will use them but I do need to make a few more cards for Thanksgiving. I used a couple of leave punches and some of my new clear stamps from the dollar bin (Fall Colors image) and by TPC Studio "Autumn Harvest" that I purchased last year at Jo-anns.
Took another sheet of white card stock and using the "Autumn Harvest" set and different pigment inks and stamp up the paper.
Cut them down to fit a A2 size card.
Ink them up using the Distressed Inks using walnut stain and forest moss.

TPC Studio "Autumn Harvest" clear set.

Hope to show you some Fall cards soon.

A Morning Basket

2011-08-20T08:39:00.000-07:00

Here is what I picked this morning. : )

Marigolds and Around the Flower Beds

2011-08-18T18:00:00.000-07:00

These marigold are called "French favourite blend" seeds by Botanical Interests. This is the first time for me to have the "French favourite" in the garden.
I have two of them and as you can see they grow to a pretty nice size.

The flowers are smaller on the "Favourite Blend".
The other marigold is in between the roses and it has not bloomed as much as the one in the raised bed. I'm surprised at the fullness. A good filler of green but I think I would like to see more and larger flowers on each plant.
The next photos of marigolds are called "Bonanza Mix". I purchased these in a six pack at Armstrong about three weeks ago. They have done well in the bed outside our front door. The flowers are larger and they have a lot of new buds on each plant.

The next bed over are a couple more marigold plants, yellow columbine and the "Pink Brilliant" iceberg rose bush.
"Pink Brilliant" iceberg rose.
While doing some morning weeding, I thought I would show you one of the border roses called "Carefree Sprit". I posted a few photos of the rose bush on my blog , dated May 14, 2010. I love the flowers on it, just a few petals, yellow centers and the red is a deep red too.

And my favorite mini rose bush is having another beautiful blooming cycle.
It is planted next to my French lavender and another yellow mini rose bush.

Thanks for your visit. Have a wonderful day.

Getting Ready For 2012

2011-08-16T18:19:00.000-07:00

Here is my garden journal for 2012, a very simple way to put a garden journal together. Here I did a quick post, here. I thought I would do something different using a binder.

The papers that I'm using for the dividers are from Amanda Blue that I picked up a couple of years ago. I was not sure how I was going to use the papers because the images are large, but beautiful. I cut the papers down to 9 1/2" x 11 1/2".

This is the die cut that I used for the tabs using the left over scraps.
I cut the die in half and used my computer to type out the months of the year.
Also using the scraps, I used my circle punch and hole punch to make paper reinforcements.
Here are some of the sheets of paper from the pad (it is double sided paper).
I can add photos and journaling to the dividers also. I have kraft card stock to add more photos and journaling.

I think I will have fun with this. : )

Garden Mini part #3

2011-08-13T07:14:00.001-07:00

I just finished the Spring section of my garden mini. I like the way it is turning out so far.

Hand made flowers using paper punches from the scraps of paper.

This book was a challenge for me due to the small space for photos. I took a lot of photos of the garden.

Now the other side of the folder.

A tri-fold that opens up for more photos and an area for journaling.

Used some of my stamps too.

The last two pages for Spring.
I just need to so some journaling here. Now that the Spring section is finished I need to clean up and reorganized for the Summer section.
This is what I came back to. There were 8 cucumbers, four nice size bell pepper, 3 squashes (not in the photo) and a lot of tomatoes.
For dinner I roasted 2 pounds for a pasta dish. Very tasty too.

Thanks for visiting and have a great day.

Back Home

2011-08-11T19:00:00.000-07:00

Hubby and I helped our Daughter move to her new place and we are very happy with it too. Her roommates are very nice and what a blessing that is. It was a very busy time and a long drive home.

My garden gave me a beautiful welcome home. The garden just exploded. Here are a few photos.

In the morning I need to do some tomato, cucumber and squash picking. Oh, and a lot of weeding too but I can't wait to get back out in the garden.

A lot of tomatoes. I think I need to make some pasta sauce and some more salsa.

He would not stay still for a photo.
I count about four cucumbers and a lot more baby ones on the vines.
The containers look good too.
I'm going to miss having her around but I'm so proud of her. All the best to you Kiddo. : )

Opie and Mini Garden Layouts

2011-08-03T13:51:00.001-07:00

Here are a few layouts of Opie. This first layout is for my Daughter and the other layouts will be for Opie album.

The polka dot matting is part of the Mac photo shop.
Used a lot of what I all ready had in my stash.

This years garden mini. I did a post where I talked what mini album I was using HERE,

Here is the first layout. The photo sizes that I am working with are 2 x 3 and 2 x 2.
I am try using my die shapes and paper punches to make the embellishments for the album using the scraps from the paper pad. I have used half back pearls and Stickles to give some shimmer on the paper. I'm inking the edges of the photos and paper using Versa Color "pinecone". I'm also using my Fiskars postage decorative scissors.
The Spring tag I had for a while in my stash. It is from My Minds Eye, 2006 Bohemia, backyard Spring quote #BH1040. Add some trim from my stash and added Stickles to the tag.
A flap that opens up for a space for some journaling and one photo.
My new die from Memory Box Ink called Butterfly chain (.5 x 6 in).
I am already thinking of next years garden album but I'm thinking more of a garden journal. I purchased this 3-ring binder at Target.
2 inch rings and I think I can get a lot into to it.
Printed this from the computer. Mac has some neat applications to use.
May have some use for these mailers too.

I hope everyone is having a nice day and hope to show you soon some more of my garden mini.
Thanks for the visit
Have a wonderful day!

Roses and A Completed Quilt

2011-07-31T08:04:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to pop in and say hello and to thank you for leaving me some lovely comments on my last post.

Have been busy getting my Girl ready for her big move and this will be hard for me. We are very close but this is part of life, right? I'm so proud of her and the next four years will be an amazing journey for her. She will be attending Veterinary School this Fall. This is what she wanted to be as a little girl.
Also, busy in the garden. Here are some photo of the Princess de Monaco.
I had to get on my tippy toes to get this shot. The stock on this rose bush towers over me. Amazing indeed.
I put away my card making for a while and needed to finish up a few things and get re-orgainze. My Daughter bought for me and Hubby a book that is filled with questions about us growing up, now and the future. Before she left I wanted to give this to her and added a few photos.

The book was purchased she said from The Paper Source.
I also finished my quilt. : )
I need to work on getting better photos of my quilts.
I love the fabrics and it is a tribute to my rose garden. The quilt measures 60 1/2 x 54.
I also added some photos and some scraps from the quilt to my project journal.
I will add the date when I posted it to my blog.
Here is my project journal and I have shown this before.
I have been using it for a while and this card was one of the Christmas Cards that my Daughter and I did back in 2007. I also add the list of family and friends that received them too. It also includes what we did during the holidays and I can refer back to the book when I go and do my photo layouts.
Who received my quilted hearts and the date. Gives you some ideas to document your hobbies.
I hope to be back soon to show you more of the garden and I have started to think about starting a Fall/Spring garden. I also have stared to think about next years garden album/journal. For this years garden album I have stared to print out some of the photos (had to stop, ran out of ink).
Some photos of the beautiful Gina Lollobrigida, hybrid tea bush.
This is what it looks like when the flower is fully opened.

Thank you for your visit and I wish you a beautiful and wonderful day.