A gift...Inspired By Nature...

A good friend of mine is retiring, so I wanted to make a gift for her.  Well, it wasn't difficult to come up with an idea.  She is my "gardening mentor".  I don't have a vegetable garden, but I do have lots of flowering plants.  And, when I first ventured into flower gardening Trudy was my "go to" person when I had questions.  She has given me starts of  plants and seeds, so I knew the gift had to be garden or nature related!

I started with a plain white box from Micheal's and covered it with SU! dsp.  I embellished it with some ribbon, a couple of die cuts, prima flowers and a rhinestone brad.  I made a total of 6 cards and 6 seed packets to go inside the box.  I tied each bundle together with some pretty ribbon.

Since I love flower gardening so much, it was fun to come up with designs for all of these nature/garden themed cards.  It was great to be able to combine my two favorite hobbies into one project.  Flower gardening and stamping...I was in my element!!!

Now that Trudy is retiring, I told her....GO GARDEN!  And, she will!

Spring blooms...

...it won't be long until the tulips will be done blooming.  So, I had to take a few more pics before they're gone.  Last fall I found a package of purple tulips.  Since purple is my favorite color I picked up a pack.  I'm SO glad that I did.  These tulips are beautiful!  This photo shows them as a little "pink-ish", but ILR they are purple.

Now, on to a card!
My husband's birthday is coming up in a few days.  I usually make his card several weeks before his birthday.  This year I was really having a tough time coming up with an idea for his card.  Well...last weekend at the StampScrapArt Tour, I found a wonderful Tim Holtz stamp, that gave me an idea that I liked.  So, I bought the set (my first Tim Holtz set...I can't find many locally).  The "check" in the pocket that I created is one of the stamps in this new set.  If you can see in the closeup pic, the check is signed by Cupid!  This will be a fun one to use for Valentine's Day, too.
Since my husband doesn't read my blog, I think I'm safe posting the card now.  I hope.....
By the way, the "stitching" that you see on the card, is actually markings made with a white gel pen.  The "stitching" turned out better than I thought it would.
Well, it looks like we're in for a rainy weekend here.  I might have to stay in and stamp  :)

I've changed my name.....

...the name of my blog, that is.

I hope it's not too confusing.  But, after all, this is a work in progress.  Especially for someone like me, who is still learning about the blog world.  I'll tell you a little about the reason for the name change.  My friend Kris and I were discussing a SU! set that both of us love.  It's called Inspired By Nature.  Kris said that would make a good blog name...it was an "aha" moment!  Since I love nature photography and nature related stamping...that seemed like the perfect name for my blog.  Thank you Kris!!!

I hope you'll keep coming back to read my blog...and put up with the "tweaks and trials" in it.

See you later, I gotta go STAMP now...

A stamper's paradise!

Two of my stamping buddies and I attended the StampScrapArt Tour yesterday.  Awesome!!!  This is a "stamper's paradise".  We found so many stamping products there, that we can't find locally.  And, we learned some new techniques!  I had SO MUCH fun.  This was truly a girls day out (for a stamper).  We shopped, laughed, lunched, shopped, laughed.....you get the idea.  :)
Here are a few pics of us at the show, but we forgot to get one of the 3 of us together. :-{

Today I'll get the chance to spend most of the day with my sister.  I love spending time with her, so this will be another fun day.  Is there such a thing as "too much of a good thing"?  Mmmmm....I don't think so!

Enjoy your time with family and friends this weekend...there's nothing better than time spent with the ones you love.

Me and Kris (she is also my SU! demo).

Cheryl (my stamping cousin) and Kris.

It's Friday!

It's finally Friday, and I have a little time to post a card!
I love the colors on this card.  AND, this was such an easy card to make.  My Sizzix and a Cuttlebug embossing folder did most of the work.
The base is black cardstock, a matting of whisper white, then bashful blue for the embossed panel.  I added a stamped image from the SU Oval All set.  I stamped it once on white and once on blue.  Using two different SU punches, then I layered them.  Added a few dots of Stickles around the sentiment.  I popped this over some black satin ribbon...and done.
I find that I'm enjoying CAS (clean and simple) cards lately.

I'll be attending the StampScrapArt show tomorrow with two fellow stampers.  I'm very excited about going, since I've never attended one before!  It should be a FUN day.
Hmmm...I guess that yard work will have to wait...again...

Chick-A-Do

I bought a pack of S.E.I. patterned paper recently.  It's their Chick-A-Do pack.  And...the papers are just as cute as the name!  Lots of birds and flowers in blues and greens.  AND, I had a 50% off coupon...so it had to come home with me  :)

This is the first card I made using some of the Chick-A-Do paper (it's such a cute name, I had to say it again!)  I used SU's Certainly Celery as the card base and Not Quite Navy for the matting.  The wavy border punch is from EK Success.  The ribbon is Certainly Celery grosgrain.  This sentiment is one that I use a LOT.  I love the font.  It's from SU's Kind and Caring Thoughts stamp set (I believe that this is a hostess set).

Well, the weather is so nice ~ 82 degrees today, that when I got home from work today, is was difficult to decide...blog or tend to the flower beds  (I have weeds already!!!).  As you can see, my blog won.  I enjoy it so much, and I haven't had much time to post lately.

One of my friends recently gave me a white Bleeding Heart plant.  I planted that yesterday.  It's so nice to have a friend that shares her flowers with me!  Last fall I planted 3 red Bleeding Hearts.  I see 2 of them coming up, but I don't know if the 3rd one survived the rough winter we had.  Most of my other flowering plants are up and growing already.  I really enjoy watching all of them grow and bloom.

Wherever you live, I hope you enjoy the "greening" of spring!

...and MORE tulips!

I couldn't stop myself!

I came home this afternoon and there are MORE tulips blooming.  They're my favorite spring flower.  Sooooo...I had to grab the camera and take a "few" more photos.  Actually about 12...don't worry I'm only posting a few  :)

I hope you enjoy them, too.

A gate-fold card...

FINALLY...a card that flowed!  : o )  If you're not a stamper, you probably don't know what I'm talking about.  Some cards just seem to fall into place so easily.  But sometimes.....grrrrr.....I really struggle to get it to look "right".  I've been known to sometimes spend and hour on ONE card.  But, as I said - this one flowed.  I love it when a plan comes together!

I saw a tutorial on StampTV for a gate-fold card...and of course, I had to try it!  Gina, on StampTV can make anything look easy, but this one actually was!  I'll be making more of these.  I used Urban Oasis Stampin' Up designer series paper and Basic Black SU card stock.  The sentiment that is stamped on the small square is from SU's Four Square stamp set.  I used my square Spellbinders dies to cut and emboss the two squares.  SO easy!!!  

I don't know if you can see it, but I lined the inside of the card with the same dsp that  I used on the outside.  I stamped my sentiment, from the Kind and Caring Thoughts stamp set, directly on to that lining.

I'm very pleased with the way this card came together!  Can you tell?

This was such a busy weekend, we were on the go alot.  There was an auction, a toy show (my husband is a farm toy collector), and a Stampin' Up! show.  The SU! show was so much fun.  My friend Kris was the demo and my cousin Cheryl, the hostess.  There was so much talent in that room on Saturday!!!  

Thanks for stopping by...please feel free to leave a comment!

Lots of tulips!

All of a sudden our tulips are just blooming like crazy!  Tulips are one of my favorite flowers...last fall I planted 60 tulip bulbs.  A few years ago I planted, maybe 20...that wasn't nearly enough!  I had to grab my camera this morning when I saw the sun shining on these blooms.  :}

It's a beautiful, bright sunny day, so I had to take advantage of it - I hope you like the pics.

A "swirly" thank you...

This was an easy card to put together. I used SU's Confetti White card stock for the card base and for the panel. I used a matting of Not Quite Navy behind the panel. The "swirly" flourish is from the Baroque Motifs stamp set ~ from SU, of course.
The flowers, stamped in Not Quite Navy ink, are from the same stamp set. I placed a tiny navy blue pearl embellishment in the center of each flower, to give the card a little "pop". The ribbon is from a local paper crafting supply shop, The Goose Barn. They stock some very unique ribbons. This one has a bit of a sheen.
Oh, I almost forgot...I did a couple of scores near the bottom of the card base. I think this gives the card a little added interest.

It looks like we're in for a cloudy rainy day...but, the weather forecast for Easter is partly cloudy and 70 degrees. I guess I'll have to stay indoors today and........stamp!

May you have a blessed Easter.
~ Christ is Risen, Christ is Risen Indeed! ~

Another "Thank You"...

This is another Thank You card that will go to my sister-in-law, Marcia. I try to keep her supplied with hand crafted cards. I'm working on a "stash" to take to her on Easter. Any of you that know me, know that I don't need much of an excuse to stamp! You could say that Marcia is "enabling" my stamping habit...LOL!

Anyway....I'm rambling. On to the card.
This card is made with SU cardstock (Pretty in Pink, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White) and 2 of their designer series papers. These are from the same pack as the DSP on the little bird card. Bella Birds ~ yes...I finally looked it up; thank you for noticing! You'll know what I'm talking about if you read my previous post :)
The sentiment piece was cut using one of my Spellbinders Nestabilities. I sponged a little pink on the card stock before removing it from the die...see the white border around the edges??? I love that look. The satin ribbon is from SU. The flowers are Prima and the little crystal brad in their center is (I think) Making Memories brand.

I made a card very similar to this for my friend Kris' birthday. I liked the card so much, so I just had to make another...and I'll probably make more. Well, that's it for today's post. I'll be back on blogger tomorrow, so stop in again.

I would love to hear your comments!

I know...it's been a while since I posted. It was a very busy ~ and stressful ~work week with several long days! WELL...on to my card!
This is one of several thank you cards I created last weekend. I was looking for an excuse to use my new bird punch from Stampin' Up!. This is what I came up with. I struggled at first with the scallop and patterned paper. After a little experimenting, I'm pleased with how the card turned out. I think I'll be using this bird punch a lot! I popped up his wing with a dimensional; I love that look.
The cardstock colors I used are Bordering Blue, Barely Banana and Chocolate Chip (all are SU). I used 2 SU designer series papers. You might not be able to see it, but the little bird's wing is punched from patterned paper (I'm too tired to go into the next room and find the name of the paper pack...sorry...like I said, it was a long week). The sentiment is from the Tiny Labels stamp set. The "swirly" flourish on the patterned paper is from a stamp set I picked up at Michaels. Yup, you guessed right...too tired to look it up :/
Anyway, I'm glad you stopped in to take a look! Hopefully, my next post will be more energized, now that my work week is over and it's the WEEKEND!