It's Officially Spring

I saw the first robin of spring today, sitting in my driveway. He looked cold and grumpy, but he was here.

Here in my part of Montana, the robins migrate in the fall to warmer places. When they show up in the spring, it's the first sure sign that winter is done. Oh, we may have some snow, but it won't last long, nor be as cold as winter's snow.

Happy Birthday, Neph!

I made this card for my nephew's 16th birthday. I had to cut the golfer out after a poorly-executed watercolor background was attempted. I used the Cuttlebug Swiss Dots folder to emboss dimples in the golf ball, and on the inside, drew a hole flag with "16" on it. (I was inordinately proud of these innovations.)

He's getting his driver's license, which will likely be a blessing and a curse for his parents. No more shlepping him around, but plenty of opportunity for worry! He's a good kid, but no saint.

1 Ribbon, 2 Buttons, 3 Brads

This was the challenge at Weekend Taggers this weekend. I was sorting through some papers, and came across the butterfly pattern, which inspired me to construct this series of three tags:

Using glossy paper, I applied inks directly to paper with sponges. Distress Inks: Scattered Straw, Mustard Seed, Dried Marigold, Worn Lipstick, Fired Brick. Vivid: Plum, Spring Green, Aqua. All sentiment stamps are Just Rite Stampers. The stamps on the first butterfly: Chinese characters, Hero Arts; Flower flourish, Inkadinkado. Second butterfly stamp is All Night Media. Third butterfly: Rose, Stampin'Up!, Italian Text, Hero Arts.

I scanned it, and it doesn't quite fit on the scanner bed. In real life, the top of the ribbon is finished with a little bow.

This was a fun challenge.

Erin Go Bragh!

May those that love us, love us;
And if they don't love us,
May God turn their hearts.
And if He doesn't turn their hearts,
May He turn their ankles,
So we'll know them by their limping.

Hurry, Spring!

After last week's snow and below zero temps, I am ready for spring!

The image is Impression Obsession, colored with Copic markers. I had to cut out the boots after an unfortunate attempt to add a shadow. I liked the look of the Martha Stewart lace punch edging. I found the pearls while I was picking up the living room (OOPS), so added those, too.

A Sweet Surprise

The tag challenge this weekend was tea time. I have a set of unmounted rubber stamps with tea cups, tea quotes, etc., which I cannot find. Luckily, my order from Impression Obsession arrived just in time with this tea cup stamp:

The tea cup is colored with Copic markers. The sentiment is Amuse Artstamps.

I made several versions of the tea cup tag. This was the first:

I guess these are robin's eggs, and the first tag is farm chickens. We don't normally get brown eggs at the store, only white ones. The sentiment is generated on the computer.

A Fish Tale

I made a handful of cards to donate to Kris for her silent auction at the seminary. I also donated some socks I knitted, and a hat and scarf.

Anyway, I spent this weekend making cards. I made a couple versions of this card. The inside says "Another fish tale."

Winged Angel

The challenge at Weekend Taggers was to make a tag featuring wings, or winged things. Rather than a bird, I thought about this Stamper's Anonymous angel stamp:

Stamped the image with CS "Earth" hybrid ink, colored with Copic markers, and blinged it up with my gold leaf pen. Instead of a ribbon, I found a package of bookmark tassels I've had for years -- voila, not only a tag, but a bookmark!