Summer Card Inspiration

 Things are finally starting to bloom here.  I love these coneflowers!  They're the one thing I can't seem to kill with my black thumb.

 I'm not much of a "fancy flower" kind of girl.  My husband knows to never buy me roses.  Echinacea is definitely more my style.

That's when I flipped when I saw this stamp set designed by 1Canoe2 for Studio Calico's July release.

It's filled with gorgeous "buildable" floral images & big, beautiful sentiments.

 

I don't know what these flowers are called (I'm so clueless when it comes to botany.)  I just know that I love them... and if my husband brought me a bouquet of them home, he would have my heart.  ;)  They are also included in the stamp set.  I'll share a fun tutorial on how to paint these flowers in an upcoming blog post at Studio Calico.

 I'm just going to admit it right now.  I think I've eaten my weight in watermelon this summer.  I can't seem to help myself.  So, when I saw the paper in the Penny Arcade card kit this month, I knew I had to use it to make a summery card.  It was just crying out to be made into a watermelon!

 

If you can cut a circle, you can make this card,  It's definitely easy to do & I think it turned out so sweet.  (Pun intended.)  

I used my Silhouette to cut out the circles, but you can easily make this design by tracing small saucers or anything round you have at home.  It's also a great project to make with kids!  Here's the basic run down:

1. Cut one full circle out of white cardstock.  Score down the middle & fold in half.
2. Cut a half circle (the same size as the first) using the green patterned paper found in the kit.
3. Cut another smaller half circle from white cardstock.
4. Cut a slightly smaller half circle from the red patterned paper from the kit.
5. Apply adhesive-backed Velcro

I used a sentiment stamp from the Pinball card kit & added a snip of Velcro to hold the fruit closed.  I thought the little triangle banners from the Penny Arcade stamp set looked like pieces of watermelon, so I stamped them with Versamark ink to make a border.  (See.  I've eaten so much watermelon that everything I look at turns into the fruit!) 

 I hope you're enjoying your summer!  Thanks for stopping by.

Adventures in Gardening 01

 I will be the first to admit that I have a black thumb.  I come from a long line of excellent gardeners, so I'm guessing that gene mutated when it got to me.

However... I planted these succulent plants nearly a month ago & guess what!?!  Yep.  They're still going strong.  I might have found my calling.  (When I heard that they don't like much water & can grow just about anywhere, I started to wonder where these plants have been all my life.)  Hopefully I'm not jinxing myself my posting these words.

I repurposed some vintage tins & potted each plant using moisture control potting soil.  Succulents like sun & I only give them an ice-cube amount of water every week - week +1/2.

 

I am, however, a pretty decent cook.  I decided to try my hand at growing various fresh herbs this summer.

I was trying to find a spot to put my pots so that they could get plenty of sun & small critters wouldn't get to them.  We have an old barn that is full of hidden treasures, so I started digging around & found this old table.  It was missing it's top & I wasn't sure what I would do with it... and that's when I found this round antique whatchamacallit.  I have no idea what it's original purpose was, but it looked to be close to the same diameter as my table.  It took a few taps of a hammer and some prying & shoving, but it actually fit inside perfectly!

 

I needed a way to quickly mark my plants, so I grabbed some wooden spoons & forks that I had leftover from a shower I hosted & just used a Sharpie to mark the herbs.  A couple of days later, I found this idea on Pinterest.  Basically the exact same idea, but she executed it much better.  If I get really inspired, maybe I'll re-do mine... but I'm guessing they'll probably stay just as they are.  ;)

 It looks like my basil has just started to sprout!

 I planted a cute mix of flowers in a window box planter on Mother's Day.  I'd love to show you a full shot, but these are the only flowers that have survived.  My black thumb is getting darker by the minute.

I'm also trying my hand at growing vegetables this year from seeds.  (lettuce, carrots, sugar snap peas, onions, brussel sprouts, watermelon, & cucumbers) My dad is a Master Gardener (literally) & tells me that my plants have potential.  We'll see how it goes & I'll try to update my progress over the next few months.