Back Yard Fun

This is a photo of our Bean House, this is something we do for the kids as their garden.  I forgot to take a photo before we planted the beans.  My husband put posts in the ground in the shape of a little house and then put string from the ground over the top and sides leaving a space empty for the door.  Then the kids planted the beans and this year they wanted to plant pumpkins as well so we have three pumpkin plants.  As the beans grow we  train the vines  along the strings to cover the house.  The littles love it and it becomes their "hideout".  The big girls like it but aren't as thrilled by it as they were a few years ago.  We all like the green beans!

 They are almost ready to pick.

 And while I was taking pictures of the Bean House, I took one of Shelby's tree.  When she was in third grade, the Forestry department  did a presentation at her school and gave all the kids a tree to take home and plant.  By the time she got hers home she had broken the top out of it and it looked pitiful, but we let her pick a spot and plant it.  It was about four inches tall at that time.  That tree was meant to survive...my husband accidentally backed over it with the lawn mower and ran into it with his truck once and the wind blew it over several times and she would straighten it up after each incident.

I have a picture of her when she planted it somewhere, so I made her get one with it now so I can scrapbook it.

Since I am showing back yard pictures, here is one of my favorite pastime this Summer, watching humming birds.  I planted some flowers that attract humming birds and they love them but there are so many of them I added in a feeder which they fight over.  The most I have seen on the feeder at once is three but there must be at least fifteen around the yard at once feeding on the flowers.

I spend a lot of time outside keeping an eye on these two birds who would live in the pool if I let them.  They were changed into swim suits by 8:30 this morning but I held them off until 10:00.

Thoughtful Branches

Love how this card turned out.  The tree is from the stamp set, Thoughtful Branches, which is not in the catalog but will be available for purchase August 2 for a limited time.  I stamped and cut two layers of the leaves and then stamped the swing from Sitting Here and converted it to a bench.  I haven't added a sentiment since I am not sure who I am sending it to or I may just leave the sentiment off the front and put something on the inside.  Thanks for stopping by!

Christmas Shaker Card

 

 

 

Today I have a Christmas shaker card to share.  I have done a few shaker cards in the past but didn't like how they turned out mostly because the shaking parts would stick to the Stampin' dimensionals but since we now have Foam Adhesive Strips I gave it a try. Super easy, looks good, and shakes!  I used a packet of the Silica Gel pieces that come in some of our packaging for the snow, I love when can repurpose something.  My kids think I carry our "save the Earth" campaign too far at home but I am passionate about it and feel obligated to do something with my Biology/Chemistry degree besides hang my diploma on the wall. Thanks for stopping by!

Joy

 

Today I have a Christmas card to share using the Embellished Ornaments stamp set and the Delicate Ornament Thinlets plus some scraps left over from a kit.

On a personal note, the girls and I had an awesome weekend in Nashville.  I made it through the concert easy enough.  I had only slept 2 hours Friday night so I was really tired by the time we got to the concert so I put my ear plugs in and fell asleep.  The girls thought it was the funniest thing ever and even allowed people to take my picture while I was asleep.

 

We had really good seats, comfortable too although most of the people were standing the whole time.

 This was the view from our balcony at Opryland hotel.

You can see the waterway in this one, you can actually take a boat ride and it has some really large fish swimming around in it. 

We stayed in the Delta region but this photo was taken in the Cascades region.

another one in the Cascades.  If you have never stayed here, it is well worth the price and you won't be disappointed.  The flowers and the landscaping are amazing.  We are already planning another trip there at Christmas.  thanks for stopping by!

Shooting Star

Hope your weekend is going good, I am off to Nashville, TN with Sadie and Shelby to go to a concert and stay at their favorite place, Opryland Hotel.  I am kind of dreading the concert but I have my ear plugs packed so maybe it won't be too bad.  I have a cute card to share made with the Shooting Star stamp set and matching framelits.  Thanks for stopping by!

Reason for the Season

I have officially started to prepare for craft show season, I do several shows from October through December so I have to start early to get ready.  I love this one made from the Reason for the Season stamp set and matching Festive Flower Builder punch.  I also used the Fabulous Foil Designer Acetate and the retired wide pillow box die along with some retired Pink Pirouette striped ribbon.  Love how this turned out and will be making more for sure.  Thanks for stopping by!

Little Mermaid

The local   Children's Theatre presentation for this Summer was Little Mermaid and one of Shelby's friends asked me to make Thank You cards for him to give to the directors. I had several already colored so I made this one for my shop. 

 

This is the inside for mine, I used "thank you" sentiments for the ones I gave him.  Thanks for stopping by!

Pop of Paradise Pineapple

Pineapples are so trendy right now and I love how Stampin' Up! mixes the trends in with the tried and true.  I had found the pineapple paper at a craft store before the catalog came out and then when I saw the Pop of Paradise set I knew I had to get it.  Thanks for stopping by!

Christmas Deer

Good Sunday morning,  I had a few  minutes to spare(which almost never happens) before heading out to church this morning so decided to post this Christmas card.  I won this deer die last Christmas as part of blog candy but didn't get it in time to use it so I couldn't wait to try it out for this Christmas.  Love it, I made five of these for myself and a few for my shop.  Thanks for stopping by!

Joyful Nativity

I have a good start on my Christmas cards if I can keep up my five cards a week from now until Christmas, I should have enough.  I was pleased that I made five of these in a little more than an hour.  Of course I tend to start out with CAS and seem to get more in depth as it gets closer to the big day.  Thanks for stopping by!

Swirly Birthday

Summer is in full swing at our house, the kids are keeping me busy but I did manage to stamp a little yesterday morning while they slept in.  They have got into the Pokemon Go game and are in competition with each other so that is keeping them entertained for the moment.  I took them out for ice cream yesterday evening and they were so busy with the  game that their ice cream was melting so they were handing it to me to hold and of course it dripped so now I have to clean my car.  This card is one of the choices for my upcoming Occasions class.  Thanks for stopping by!

Country Livin'

Old trucks always remind me of my Daddy.  I grew up in the Appalachian mountains of Kentucky which was and still is a very poor area with the hardest working, friendliest, best people in the world.  My dad was a coal miner but only owned one new vehicle in his lifetime and I will never forget the day he bought it and how happy it made him.  I have a few truck stamps but had to have this one as well and of course had to make it blue like the one my daddy had.  I will add a sentiment when I decide who will be getting this card or maybe I will just keep it for myself.  Thanks for stopping by!

Christmas in July

 

My favorite cards to make are Christmas and I always start them in July but never seem to make enough by Christmas.  I don't like making multiples of the same card but this one was really easy so I might do several of these for friends at church.   At our church the children's missions groups set up a post office and instead of paying for postage we make a donation to missions and the kids deliver the cards to church members. Thanks for stopping by!

Bonus Days

 

Stampin' Up! has announced a new promotion that you for sure want to get in on.  From now until July 31st, you will get a $5.00 bonus certificate for every $50.00 worth of merchandise that you order.  You will be able to redeem these certificates in the month of August.  You will get the certificate by way of email so make sure you keep the email or write down the numbers since they can't be resent.  Thanks for stopping by!

Moroccan Thank You

 

It's hard to pick a favorite among the DSP in the new annual catalog, they are all very pretty but the Moroccan is very close to the top for me.  The flower is from the Mayflower Thinlet dies and is in Delightful Dijon.  Thanks for stopping by!

For the Newlyweds

I needed a quick and easy wedding card so I used the Detailed Floral Thinlets with the coordinating Floral Phrases stamp set.  The sentiment is from Teeny Tiny Wishes.  The DSP is Floral Boutique.  Here is a video on how to use these dies.

 

Jar of Love

Today I have another jar card to share, this one filled with flowers.  I have a large flower garden in my yard with a lot of perennials that bloom from early Spring through Fall.  When Sadie was about five she loved picking flowers and putting them in a vase for her room.  I would walk around the yard and help her pick one of each kind.  She caught me busy in the house and set out on her own once, she picked every single tulip and daffodil in the yard, even the ones not fully bloomed out.  She must of realized what she had done when they wouldn't all fit in her vase so she took her "leftovers" to the next door neighbor and gave them to her.  I couldn't get mad at her but did have a little talk about only picking a few and leaving some to enjoy later.  Thanks for stopping by!

Best Fishes

I love how this card turned out, makes me wish I was at the beach right now.  We aren't doing a big vacation this year because we took a three week vacation last year with two of those weeks being at the beach.  The DSP is from the Serene Scenery 6x6 pack which has some awesome scenes.  Thanks for stopping by.