Roaming the farm with my camera.......

I had my camera in the car when I visited my father-in-law recently, since we were going to a birthday lunch for one of our nephews.  The beautiful skies inspired me to roam the farm and take some photos.  I LOVE the country...

3 Challenges = 1 card!

Well, I squeezed in some time to stamp today...before church, after church and finally finished this evening after our Father's Day gathering.  I knew that this week would be busy, so I had to get this card finished today!
I created this card for 3 challenges...and these 3 fit together SO well.  These ladies always come up with great challenges, every week.  It's a lot of fun to play along with them!
The challenges are:
*Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge, SSSC74...get the details here.
*Crazy 4 Challenges C4C42, to use a paper flower...details here.
*Just Us Girls Color Challenge, using lt. pink, choc chip & vanilla..deets, here.

On several of the blogs that I follow, I've seen crafters making their own paper flowers.  I decided it was high time that I gave it a try!  After punching the flowers out of pretty in pink CS, I roughed it up with my bone folder, then used my distressing tool around all of the edges.  Eventually, I was able to separate the layers of card stock, the I sponged a little brown on and curled the edges.  For my first try, I'm really pleased with the results.
I'm posting 2 pics; the second is a closeup of my paper flower.

My recipe:
Cardstock: chocolate chip, pretty in pink, very vanilla (SU)
Ink: chocolate chip, pretty in pink, cameo coral
Designer Series Paper: Sending Love Specialty (SU)
Stamps: Fantasy tree (Penny Black), Tiny Tags (SU)
Punches: scallop circle, flower trio, word window (SU)
Embellishments: cotton candy stickles, petal pink liquid pearls (Ranger), brad (Making Memories), brown flat back pearl (Recollections)
Tools: crimper, distressing tool
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AND ~ I just have to add this fun pic from our family gathering today.  This is a pic of my father-in-law and all of his sons.  In the first shot I took, one of my BIL's had his arms folded, but no one else did.  So...I thought getting all of them posed the same way would make for a more interesting shot.  They humored me!  They're good guys!!!
Hope you had a happy Father's Day, too.

Stamp Simply #144 sketch challenge

I'm playing along in the Stamp Simply #144 sketch challenge today.  I've seen several monochromatic cards recently on several blogs, so I've had some ideas rolling around in my head for a couple of days.  I thought this sketch challenge fit so well with what I had in mind.  You can see the details for the challenge here.  I liked this sketch as soon as I saw it!
This card will go to an aunt and uncle who recently visited from Colorado.  We enjoyed spending a Saturday afternoon with them recently and we were fortunate to acquire an original piece of art from my uncle.  He is SO very talented and I am so excited to have another piece of his art displayed in our home!
Well....back to the card.
I thought a monochromatic card would be so easy to make.....mmm...not so much.  I found that I needed some definition here and there to define a few of the layers.  I did a little sponging around the edges, which seemed to be just what it needed.  I had the chance to use some ribbon that I recently purchased from Stampin' Up.  It's being discontinued, but I managed to grab some before it was gone.  This ribbed ribbon is part of the Beachfront pack.  I'm so glad that I bought this pack, because I LOVE all five of the ribbons!
I'm posting two photos.  The second one is a closeup of that gorgeous ribbon I talked about.

 

**** Card Recipe ****

Card stock: Very Vanilla, Confetti Cream (SU)

Stamp sets: Organic Grace, Whimsical Words (SU)

Ink: Close To Cocoa, Mellow Moss (SU)

Ribbon: Beachfront ribbed, linen thread (SU), cotton lace (Wrights)

Accessories and tools: embossing folder (Cuttlebug), buttons from my stash, sponges, Big Kick (Sizzix)

From the flower gardens...

Not much to "say" this time.  I just wanted to share a few photos of the blooms in my flower gardens.  These were taken between rain showers yesterday.  I'll also include a couple of sunrise photos I took a few days ago.  Thanks for stopping by!

Card Patterns Sketch 68...butterflies!

I'm playing along in this week's Card Patterns Sketch 68.  You can find the details of the challenge here.  This week's sketch is sponsored by Gina K Designs. 
I love Stampin' Up's designer series paper.  And, I chose one of my favorites...Cottage Wall.  I really love the colors in this pack...and, of course, I love the flower and butterfly prints especially!  And this butterfly border punch from Martha Stewart was the perfect accent.  This was my first chance to use it.  I like that it embosses a little, along with punching.  Love playing with new "toys"!

In the second photo I tried to show the embossed edges of my scalloped oval and the MS punch.  I used clear embossing on the large butterfly, but I wasn't able to get it to show well in any of my photos.  IRL it does shine...really...

My recipe:
Card stock: Old Olive, Rich Razzleberry, Whisper White (all SU)
DSP: Cottage Wall (SU)
Stamps: beautiful butterfly (Hampton Art) & sentiment is from SU
Accessories: MS butterfly punch, small oval punch (SU), scalloped oval & oval (Spellbinders), clear embossing powder (SU), mono adhesive, red lined tape

Yesterday (Friday) was a VERY busy day.  I had lunch with several friends.   Mmmm...lunch was delicious!  And the hours spent talking were just as wonderful!
Last night my husband and I attended my high school class reunion.  Forty years!  How can I be this old already?  I had not kept in touch with any of my classmates. So when I got an email about the reunion a few months ago, I wasn't sure if I wanted to go.  Since then, I've been in contact with several of those classmates on Facebook.  I am SO glad that we went to the reunion.  It was great to see so many classmates, see how we've changed...or not!  And see where their lives have taken them.
And, we were lucky that the heavy rain held off until this morning.  We were able to spend the evening outdoors, in the country, with a beautiful view of some of northern Illinois' rolling cornfields.

Thank you for stopping by...I would love it if you would a comment.  I look forward to reading them!