Roses

I love roses.

I love their shapes, their colors, their names, but most of all I love their fragrance.  A rose without fragrance is akin to a day without dessert.  It can be done, but WHY?  For decades roses have been bred to have the long stems, repeat blooms, perfect bud shapes that didn't open too much, and fanciful colors, but these "improvements" often came at the cost of their fragrance.  Long-stemmed beauty roses.  Hothouse roses.  Florists roses.  All beautiful, but most lacking the one thing that, to me, defines a rose as A ROSE - that wonderful rose, or tea, or spicy fragrance.  Another feature that was lost was their toughness and disease resistance.  They became fragile, rather ugly shrubs that only looked good when in bloom and were susceptible to disease.  Thankfully, there was a resurgence of antique roses, many of which bloomed only once a year, and then rose breeders started crossing them with modern roses with the result being roses that bloomed repeatedly yet looked like antiques, were tougher and more disease-resistant and, most importantly, SMELLED LIKE ROSES.  Heaven in a garden!

Maggie

Maggie

I grow roses.  Not in a special bed reserved just for them, no no.  They're sprinkled all over throughout my front and back gardens.  Antiques and hybrids, but not the florist roses (hybrid teas).  I have no use for plants that only look good when in bloom.  I want workhorse plants that look good even when not in bloom, and for that, you need antiques (or their hybrids). 

Maggie, shown here, smells out of this world.  I was working in the yard today doing fall cleanup and pruning these and some of my other roses back pretty hard since they were very overgrown, but a few Maggies were still in bloom, and the yard smelled heavenly.  You don't get THAT with fussy hybrid teas.  

Now not all the roses in my garden smell good, but those that don't still serve as workhorses, such as these, The Fairy.  They're great landscape roses and once again, they look good even when not covered in blooms.  And who wouldn't love to have one or two fairies in their garden?

The Fairy

 And this brings me to today's card.  It is one I made earlier this year and I believe is the first card I ever made that followed a sketch.  It was also the first time I made paper roses.

The CS is Pool Party, and the dp is MME Miss Caroline by Howdy Doody.  The sketch was MOJO Monday, and I didn't feel that I had room for the little banner.  I was excited that I had discovered sketches and didn't care that I didn't follow it exactly!

The image, Flourishes April Showers, was colored with watercolor pencils on watercolor paper and chalked while still inside the Dienamics Oval Stax die.  (My coloring efforts were still in the beginner stage).

The little scrap of music is from one of my old music books from which I first learned to play piano over 40 years ago - truly vintage!  A seam binding bow and some pearls finished things off.

Thank you for sharing my roses with me.  No challenges today, just a pretty card with roses galore.

I love roses.  Don't you?

Happy Crafting!!

 

Autumn Leaves

Today's card is all about leaves, Autumn leaves.  Ours here in North Texas are just beginning to change colors.  The weather is finally starting to cooperate, and the upcoming holidays are starting to become a reality.  Of course, if you go to any craft store, they've had Autumn and Halloween decorations out for weeks.  How about since July?  That's crazy.  The last thing I'm thinking of is Halloween when the temperatures are in the triple digits.  But now I'm ready and enjoy all the orange and black and turkeys and pumpkins in all of the stores.  Because it's Autumn.  Don't even get me started on Christmas and when those decorations started showing up. Remember when we were aghast when they showed up the day after Halloween?  Now they, too, show up in July, or even earlier.  I don't look at them at all - I don't want to be tired of red, green and gold by the time that glorious season makes its appearance!!  

But I digress.  My card today features leaves and autumnal colors.  Not a lot of bling, no big embellishments, it's more of a simple card which sometimes is refreshing. 

The base is River Rock which goes so well with the deep colors of SU's Regal collection.  I've used Always Artichoke on top of Cajun Craze and stamped Flourishes Falling Leaves with Always Artichoke.  The printed papers are Bo Bunny Serenade and Apple Cider Collections, punched on both sides of both strips with a MS border punch.

The main image is stamped with IO Branches of a Tree after first sponging the background wtih Daffodil Delight, Pumpkin Pie and Cajun Craze, then it is layered onto an Early Espresso shadow layer.  I always love sponging the colors of a sunset.  Of course I have to have a little bling, just a little, and that comes in the form of copper glitter paper cut with a Dienamics Dizzy Doily die.  Some green faceted bits (not rhinestones, per se), and the card is finished.  See?  Simple.  No fanfare, no multiple embellishments.  But still a bit of bling.  I mean, let's be reasonable.

Thank you for visiting me today, and I hope you have a lovely autumn day wherever you are.  

Happy Crafting!

Challenges entered are:

Oozak Challenge #7 - Die Cuts
Alota Rubberstamps - ALOTA92 Brighten Up Your Life
Simon Says - Dies and/or Punches
CCEE1241 - Fall Colors w/Leaves and a Punched Border 

and last but not least
Charisma Cardz Challenge #40 - Sketch

Vintage Hope

Good morning!

Remember how I said yesterday that I was going to be working in the yard all day today?  Well, I didn't.  The sprinklers went off as they usually do on Saturdays, and I completely forgot about them and wasn't prepared for how wet the garden was.  I don't work on wet soil - it's a terrible thing to do to it - but I there I was in my gardening clothes, ready for work, when it dawned on me that my garage needed some serious attention as well.  So....that's what I did - cleaned out my garage.  Doesn't that sound like a fun way to spend a Saturday?  I can think of more entertaining things to do (ummm... like making cards?), but it had gotten to the point where I became cranky every single time I went out to get in my car, not to mention the fact that I'm turning the garage into another work space, this time for the big, messier projects.  So now it's 90% clean and straight with just a little finishing to do on Monday when I will have some big things removed and taken to storage.

Of course I headed straight to the craft room as soon as I came in and had a shower, and this is what I came up with.   

It is an easel card, only the second I've done, and the first full-sized one.  They are surprisingly easy to make.  I used a color which I haven't used in a long time (Pool Party) and combined it with pink and brown, plus Echo Park Paper Co. Everyday Eclectic for the bottom panel.  

The card is for several challenges, among them distressing, swirls, buttons, and bird challenges.  I used Sissix Tags Scallop Combo 2 for the tag.  I roughed up the edges with the SU distressing tool.  Stamps are SU Papaya Collage (image) and Flourishes Calla Lilies (words), and the frames around both words have been heat embossed with Zing! brown embossing powder.  Dienamics Fancy Flourish die, Framelits Labels Collection, Word Window and SU Fancy Fan embossing folder round out the tools.  I was very pleased to find printed paper that looks almost exactly like the embossed and distressed top layer.  I sponged the edges of the embossed layer with TH Distress Ink in Tea Stain, then I very gently brushed the sponge over the tops of the embossed fans to color just the tips of the paper.  Doesn't it look almost exactly like the paper on the bottom panel?  

The embellishments are real vintage buttons that I found in various thrift shops.  I will use the little cards they came on when I'm finished with them, either on cards or decoupage pieces.  Waste not, want not.  A pearl, a dab of seam binding, and some linen thread, and the card is finished!!

Thanks for looking and visiting my blog. 

Have a lovely day, and Happy Crafting!!

Challenges entered:

SCS - HYCCT1213 - Hope is the Thing
The Shabby Tea Room - Link Up for Pink
MFP - FOSTV Challenge #41 
Tuesday Throwdown #119
Anything Goes Challenge #77
MFP - Simple Salutations 
Simon Says Stamps - Dies and/or Punches 
Fussy and Fancy Challenge 73 - Easel Card  
MFP - Speedy Fox & Friends Challenge 129 - Inspiration Photo
Word Art Wednesday - Be Ye Kind 
Oozak Challenge #7 - Die Cuts 
Red Carpet Studio - RCS#7 - The Birds

and last but not least,

MFP Speedy TV. - Sketch w/a Twist (add 3 or more buttons)

 

A Day in the Garden...

Actually, it's going to be several days in the garden doing heavy, manual labor.  It is time for the big fall cleanup and it can't be avoided anymore, so I'm pulling from my card archives today as I won't be able to get into the craft room until this evening.  Hopefully.  If I can even move.  It's been awhile since I've done any heavy labor (last spring, in fact), so I'm pretty sure I'll be stiff and sore.

I miss my craft room already...

For this card I used SU's Bordering on Romance and colored it using the inkpad/brush method and added a bit of glitter to the insides of the flowers for a little sparkle.  The CS is SU's Neutrals (and Brights for the rose) DSP Stack, plus Early Espresso and watercolor paper.

The edge was cut and embossed with SU's Textured Impressions Embossing Folders Adorning Accents, and the inside striped piece is the reverse side of the piece that was cut off of the top layer.

A banner, flourish, Tiny Tag, bow, pearls and sort-of rose finish things off.  I learned how to do this type of flower (part rose, part daisy) here.

Hope you have a wonderful Saturday, and Happy Crafting!!

Challenges Revisited

Today's card is in response to a bunch of challenges.  Challenges are a fantastic way to get the creative juices flowing.  They're like a kick start to one's mojo.  You have a basic requirement (or template, in the case of sketch challenges), but the interpretation is entirely up to the crafter.  I LOVE that.  Before I discovered challenges, I would sit and muddle my way through each card, trying to come up with a layout on my own and really having no clear idea of where I wanted to go and wasting much time in the process.  And I was never very satisfied with the final results.  So much was left to chance.  But once I discovered challenges, particularly sketches, I was off to the races.  Suddenly I couldn't wait to get into my craft room - I had a plan!!  Then I discovered more challenges.  Color challenges, embellishment challenges,  incorporate this shape, do something for that holiday....eeek!!!  So many challenges, so little time!!  

So today's card is for several of them.  It's gotten to be a game - how many challenges can one little card fulfill?

This card fulfills seven.  For many, that's peanuts, but for me, it's a LOT.  (All challenges will be linked below.) Four of them were for colors, in case you were wondering why I made a Christmas card using these colors.  One was to focus on tasty treats. One was a sketch, and one was to incorporate two or more circle shapes.  See what I mean?  As someone who loves putting together jigsaw puzzles, putting together a card for multiple challenges gives me the same satisfaction.

 

  The ornaments are free-hanging.  They are the Ornament die and stamp sets from MFT and are so much fun to play with.  I stamped them with glue and applied gold and copper glitters, then hung them from between the two upper panels using gold metallic thread.

The image is from Flourishes stamp set, Sweets of the Season.  I colored it with watercolor pencils and popped it up on two contrasting diecuts.  The background layer was embossed with SU Snowburst embossing folder. 

I have to say it was fun making a Christmas card from decidedly non-Christmas colors.  I might even do it again.  But you can be sure it'll be part of a multiple challenge.

Thanks for visiting me, and Happy Crafting!!

Challenges entered:

SCS Thursday Challenge - Round and Round
The Shabby Tea Room - Link Up For Pink
The Shabby Tea Room - Week #135, Beautiful Romance
Flourishes Timeless Tuesday - Fresh Baked 
The Color Throwdown - #213 
Really Reasonable Ribbon - #57, Pretty in Pink and Ribbon Theme 
and last but certainly not least...

MOJO Monday 262 

 

Halloween Greetings!

Hi and good morning!

It's time to start making Halloween cards in earnest.  I confess that I've never made a Halloween card in my life, nor have I ever even sent one.  Halloween just wasn't a "card holiday" in my book, though I've enjoyed going to parties and handing out candy to kids, etc.  I just never thought to send a card.  But then I started making cards early this year and now Halloween of course seems like the PERFECT card holiday!  It's all about perspective.

Today's sketch over at Splitcoaststampers was a fun one - lots of layers, which is my favorite kind.




My mind was bigger than my CS and my original intention was to stamp the kitty and the broom directly onto the CS, but they didn't fit once I put everything else on, so I decided to fussy cut them instead and pop them up on dimensionals. The broom is an enchanted broom with stars in its "exhaust," so I added a few extra glittery sparks behind it.

The pumpkin was a hoot - I stamped it on Shrinky Dinks, colored it with watercolor pencils, then turned the heat gun on it. Makes the perfect little charm. I used some gold (brass?) wire I had on hand for "vines" and attached it to a rosette. The spider web was diecut from black glitter paper.

It occurred to me as I was making a huge mess in my craft room today that playing in glitter, glue, paints, and even Shrinky Dinks is ok again and NOT just reserved for school children.  And isn't that fun?

Enjoy your day, and Happy Crafting!!

Challenges entered:

SCS Sketch
Anything Goes #77 - Animals
Crazy4Challenges - Halloween
Charisma Cardz Challenge #39