Pleasant Poppies Thank You Card

Today's Lesson From The Craft Room:  Get Up And Walk Away
I was eating lunch the other day and fell into my usual habit of turning on the tv while I was eating.  Of course, even though there are hundreds of channels to watch, there was absolutely nothing worthwhile on!  But, unfortunately, that didn't stop me.  I chose some ridiculous dating show and let it blabber at me while I ate my salad and bowl of corn/beans/salsa.  Once I was done eating it was very tempting to just keep sitting there staring at the tv screen.  I even found myself getting up, grabbing a few squares of chocolate out of the pantry and heading back to the couch.  But once I sat down, reason took over and I turned off that dumb television show and got up and walked away!  I am very proud of myself!  Instead of letting my mind melt I actually started editing photos for my blog :)  Sometimes you need to get up and walk away in order to get yourself going!
Today's card was another scrap card as I begin to unearth the craft table (I know it's under there somewhere!).  I had stamped the Pleasant Poppies stamp onto watercolor paper with Staz-On and watercolored the image ages ago and now it turned into a perfect panel for this card.  I paired it with some designer paper (patterns stack) and a sentiment from Petite Pairs.  I hope you like it and I hope you have a wonderful weekend filled with opportunities to get up and walk away and get yourself going!!!!!

Fine Feathers Thoughts Of You Card

Today's Lesson From The Craft Room:  Tend To It While It Is In Your Care
On our morning walk Buddy and I pass by a beautiful piece of land.  In the midst of house after house, there is a corner lot that is a beautiful iris garden.  We walk by every day and I always wondered whose garden it was.  This is no small piece of land - it is large and beautiful and visited by birds and rabbits.  Every once in awhile we would see bags stacked along the curb for pick up - bags of trimmings and clippings - evidence of someone tending to this beautiful place.  On Tuesday, Buddy and I were coming upon this wonderful place and there was a woman who looked like she was being eaten up by the ground!  She was on her knees and her whole torso was against the earth and her arm was reaching into the ground!  I wasn't quite sure what I was seeing!  As we came up closer we could see that there was a hole in the ground - the place where the controls for the irrigation system live - and we stopped to chat.  It turns out that the woman was one of the daughters who grew up in the home.  Sadly, her mother passed away in January and the family is not able to continue to support the home.  Someday soon, the property - including the 1940's house - will be put up for sale.  It was sad for her to share - and sad for me to hear.  Thinking about how much love her mother put into that garden.  Thinking about the likelihood that the land will be sold and the garden unearthed and new homes built in its stead.  She mentioned that they had thought about donating the land to the city, but really couldn't afford to do that.  It made me wonder what it would take to raise enough money to buy the land to preserve this piece of heaven in the midst of city sprawl.  And then a part of me wondered how long you can really control what happens to land.  For if I was able to raise the money and purchase it - what would happen to it when I was gone?  Maybe what we need to focus on is how we can tend to nature while nature is in our care.  Focusing on the present moment and our impact on what we appreciate.  We walked by the property again today - this time it was blanketed in fresh snow.  We looked even more carefully this time - realizing that what we love may one day no longer be there.
Today's card focused on colors that are retiring - only here until they are gone.  Bashful Blue and River Rock.  Funny how sometimes we begin to appreciate things only after they are disappearing - I don't think I had ever put these 2 colors together, but I love the way they look!  I stamped the feather from Fine Feathers and then added the sentiment from Loving Thoughts using Early Espresso ink.  So simple.  I hope you like it!

Pennant Parade Birthday Card

Today's Lesson From The Craft Room:  Do
That's my word of the day..."do!"  I have been finding myself back in "if only" space.  Have you been there?  It's when your thoughts begin with the words "if only" and then you fill in the blank.  If only I had a barn as a studio.  If only there wasn't so much clutter around me.  If only I had a few million dollars (okay...maybe even one million)!  I find myself sitting there with my thoughts - pondering "if only" and what I realize is that while I am doing all of that pondering I am not DOING anything to get myself closer to having that million, getting my space uncluttered, or working toward having a barn as an art studio!  So today's word is "do" and I'm hoping tomorrow's word will be "do" too!  I need to start doing, even in the midst of all of my thoughts. There is a great quote by Pablo Picasso that says, "Inspiration exists, but it has to find us working."  So off I go to work - to do those things that I keep thinking about...hopefully inspiration will notice me :)
Today's card began with a few of the designer label punch pieces that were lying on my craft table (or, more aptly stated, "buried" on my craft table!).  I took out a Marina Mist card base and tied a piece of stitched satin ribbon around it.  Next I added the designer label punched pieces using dimensionals and layered a few stamped pennants from Pennant Parade.  The sentiments from Pennant Parade, Fabulous Phrases and Mixed Medley were stamped and then punched with a 3/4" circle punch.  They were also added to the card with dimensionals.  A bright button with some linen thread and a spritz with Marina Mist and Chocolate Chip ink finishes the card.  I hope you like it!

Tyler, Texas

Today's Lesson From The Craft Room:  Some Things Are Better Laughed At Than Eaten!!!!
Really?!  Instead of calling this a Chicken Fried Burger, I think they need to call it Heart Attack On A Plate!  The menu item above it - The Flatliner -is definitely named correctly :)  I do wonder how many of these items they sell...and hope that those who eat them have their legal and medical papers in order! :)
We were in Tyler, Texas over the weekend for a wedding and a quick visit with Michael's parents.  We left bare trees here in Colorado and flew into the warm, humid Spring in Tyler.  it was nice to see all of that green and some beautiful wildflowers along the side of the road.  Over the weekend Michael's dad took us for a little scenic boat ride along the Naches River.  I thought I would share a few of the photos - hopefully you can imagine the sound of the frogs and ducks that are hiding somewhere out of view :)  I hope to be back tomorrow with something crafty :)

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