random reflections

Winter Photography Scavenger Hunt

Tomorrow marks the last day of March, and the end of Eileen's Winter Photography Scavenger Hunt. When I posted the first eleven photos, I wasn't sure I'd have time to find the rest, but rather quickly, I did. So here are the final nine:

Pool of Light-Chicago Botanic Garden's Orchid Show #2

Fastener:  Buckles and zippers on my suitcase #3

I have two offerings for #5--A Group Activity:

Pruning at the Chicago Botanic Garden

A group tour at the Milwaukee Art Museum

Water dispenser: Sarah's refrigerator (you can see Hannah in the reflection waiting for her drink) #6

Chocolate #8 - This is Hannah after eating one (very small) chocolate-covered chocolate cookie

Glitter #12-Hannah came home from day care with this glittery finger painting, and was happy to pose for a photo.

Another pick from the Chicago Botanic Garden: An Instruction #13

Two Carved Objects found along the road in Racine #19

And last, but not, least:

A Method of Communication, albeit an outdated one. #20

Butterflies

Butterflies seem to be on the mind of people choosing card challenges this week. I love butterflies and have several sets that would work for either of these challenges, but this is what I've come up with. First off, the Time Out Challenge. It's a photo challenge, but the image in the photo that caught my eye was the large butterfly painting over the couch. As soon as I saw it I had an idea for the challenge.

A close look at the photo shows a butterfly in grays and blacks with very interesting gold framing. Although I've used Papertrey Ink's "Butterfly Folk" in the past, I've never used this (quite large) image before. 

I stamped it in black on Simon Says Fog cardstock, one of my favorite grays. Then I placed one of Altenews "Fine Frames" die cut in gold behind it.

The sentiment is from Simon Says "Let's Party." Finally, I thought it needed just a bit of sparkle so I added some gold rhinestones.

The next card is for the CAS(E) this Sketch challenge.

This time I reached for another Papertrey Ink set, "Life is Beautiful." 

I stamped the butterfly on Tim Holtz watercolor paper with my MISTI. It took multiple stampings to get a sharp black image. I then watercolored it with Altenew's 36 pan watercolor set (still sitting on a table in my craft room since our return from Wisconsin," and die cut it with the coordinating die.

I couldn't decide what to use for the border in the sketch, but settled on a thin strip of patterned paper from Sunny Studio's "Striped Silly" paper pad which I backed with a piece of black cardstock as well as a very thin piece of cardstock down the center. The sentiment is from Papertrey Ink's "Birthday Bash" set, a set I return to over and over again.

I used some three-dimensional tape to attach the butterfly, and pulled its wings up a bit. This is probably a card that would be better hand-delivered than sent through the mail.

 

 

Spring Flowers - Take Three Thursday and Two Challenges

It warmed up yesterday afternoon, and we were out for a walk, but there aren't really any spring flowers to be seen. A few snowdrops peeking up, a few crocus, and not much else. I'd be more encouraged if there wasn't snow in the weekend forecast. Maybe they'll be wrong for a change!

Last week I went to a local garden store to pick up some new pots for my African violets. They had a special display of primroses for $3.50 apiece so I brought three home. One for the kitchen:

One for the coffee table in the living room:

And one for my desk:

I'm joining Mary-Lou today for Take Three Thursday with three things you've noticed this week. Actually, these are three things I've truly enjoyed this week. Almost all my time at home is spent in one of these three rooms, and they've brought some joy and a touch of spring into my week.

Speaking of spring flowers, that's the challenge for Work it Wednesday at Simon Says for the next several weeks. The Simon Says weekly Wednesday Challenge is "Anything Goes," so this springy card will work for both challenges.

Of all the images I watercolored while I was away, this is the most colorful. Here's to Spring! The image is another Papertrey Ink "Bold Blossoms" for watercoloring.

Like the others I've posted, I used Altenew's 36 Pan Watercolor set. This time I added some details with my Polychromos pencils and a white Signo pen when I got home. Before mounting it on a card, I used the W+9 "Gift Card Layers Die" to create a stitched edge. 

The sentiment was stamped and die cut with Papertrey Ink's "Penned Elegance" set.

 

Time Out: Birthday Celebration

The Time Out Challenge is celebrating their 5th birthday. I'm late to the party, but just in time with a birthday card to celebrate.

I'm sharing another card with a watercolored panel I worked on while we were away. This time it's Papertrey Ink's "Peonies on Parade."

The beautiful peonies were watercolored with Altenew's 36 pan watercolor set.  

I used a combination of pinks, orange, and reds and love the way the colors blend into one another using a wet-on-wet technique. The sentiment is from Papertrey's "Penned Elegance." The only embellishment was the addition of a few black pearls.

I did add a bit of dimension by using a black Glaze pen on the center of the peonies. 

 

Watercolored Blossoms

While we were in Wisconsin, I watercolored some images for cards. As usual, the first few days after returning from a trip were very busy, but finally while I watched the NCAA Women's Basketball Championship games last night, I had time to put the images to good use. I have one to share today for three challenges. The first is The Flower Challenge where "Anything Goes" is the theme.

The second is for AAA Cards. The challenge there this time is One Image plus an Optional Twist of Spring. We awoke to another fresh coat of snow, so despite the encouraging forecasts the only sign of spring is right here in my craft room. 

And, finally for Less is More where the challenge is "Take Three." Although there are three main blossoms in the cluster, it is just one image, not several that have been masked, so I think it works for both the AAA Card challenge as well as Less is More. 

The image is from Papertrey Ink, "Bold Blossoms" that was printed on watercolor paper. I used Altenew's 36 pan watercolor set which is perfect for traveling as well as having great colors for flowers. That's no surprise since Altenew excels in creating beautiful floral stamp sets. 

The sentiment is also from Papertrey Ink. I love the "Penned Elegance" stamps and dies. Before I owned a set of the dies, I borrowed them from a friend and stamped and die cut a bunch of them. They were in my stash just waiting for the right occasion, and this was it.

To qualify for the AAA Card Challenge, no embellishments can be added. I did die cut the panel with the large rectangle from W+9's "Gift Card Layers" die, and added a few white dots to the flower centers with a Signo broad white pen. I'm hoping that doesn't disqualify the card from the challenge.

Here's hoping I'll soon be able to post some photographs of spring flowers!

 

Photowalk #09: The Orchid Show at the Chicago Botanic Garden

The weather forecasts are getting more encouraging which should mean that I can soon catch up with my photowalks. We chose the only warmer and sunny day while we were in Wisconsin to drive down to the North Shore and view the Orchid Show at the Botanic Garden--surely one of our favorite spots in that area.

The orchids were displayed in a variety of ways:

And, individually, they were beautiful:

I love the buds for these that look like ripe berries:

And the backlight on these:

Of course, we needed to take a walk around the gardens themselves which, although pretty barren, provided a few photo ops. I love the shadows cast by the tree, which gave me an idea for a photo project for the year, looking at shadows. I'm almost always drawn to them, so I've started a collection.

Loved the contrast of the dried hydrangea which had blown off the plant onto the brick sidewalk.

And, finally, a black and white photo of a favorite view of the bell tower across the frozen pond.

I have a few more photos from this walk for the Winter Photography Scavenger Hunt, which I managed to finish while we were away thinking today (the official start of Spring) was the last day. However, I've discovered that the last day is March 31st, so I'll wait to post them when Eileen's link goes up. 

 

 

The Flower Challenge: Take Two

There's a gorgeous gallery of cards up on The Flower Challenge: Anything Goes.

I have a second card to add to the gallery, another card created with my recent favorite: Pink Fresh Studio's "Fleur 1."

After coloring the two floral images with Copic markers, I die cut them with the coordinating dies and added them to a Papertrey Ink Shape Shifter Circle #1. This time I used just two of the the dies: the outer scallop and the "stitched" border. On the last card I posted for this challenge, I used all three. You can see it here. The versatility of the Shape Shifter dies is one of the things I love best about them. The sentiment is from an older Papertrey set, "Floral Frenzy," that's been in my collection for years. 

The bow was stamped in Hawaiian Shores to match the card base, and I added five yellow Nuvo dots to complete the card.

An "Irish" Birthday

Tomorrow is St. Patrick’s Day and Tracy’s birthday. We’ll be spending it at Sarah’s church, a lunch out afterwards to celebrate the birthday, back for chocolate cake and ice cream, and before dinner, heading home to Rochester. We’ll drive a few hours Sunday and finish the trip Monday.

So it’s unlikely that I’ll have time to write a blog post or even link to a challenge tomorrow. The Card Concept Challenge is just perfect for a St. Patrick’s Day birthday card: Shamrock Blessings.

 

One of the stamp sets in the Simon Says March Card Kit, “Wooly Lucky,” was also perfect, and I made a shaker card thinking Caleb and Hannah would appreciate the cute llama and the shaker. I also know Tracy won’t mind not getting a sophisticated card for his birthday.

I started by coloring the llama with Copic markers and fussy cutting him. Then I used a Spellbinder’s oval to die cut the center from patterned paper, “Really Rainbow Scallops” by Lawn Fawn, that came with kit, backed it with acetate, and after filling it with a sequin mixture that also came with the kit, added a foam backing to create the shaker.

I couldn’t decide how to add the sentiment to the card, but finally decided to cut a shamrock with the Cameo and then embossed the sentiment in gold. It still needed something, so I cut a second shamrock from metallic gold paper to use as a border. I popped up the llama with some dimensional tape and adhered the piece to a top-folded white card.

The kit also included a gold envelope and a set of stickers, and I used two of them on the envelope.

And in honor of St. Patrick, an Irish Blessing:

May love and laughter light your days,
and warm your heart and home.
May good and faithful friends be yours,
wherever you may roam.
May peace and plenty bless your world
with joy that long endures.
May all life’s passing seasons
bring the best to you and yours!

 

Seize the Birthday: Dots and Stripes

Seize the Birthday has a new challenge up. They always offer a generic birthday option, but the topping this time is “Dots and Stripes.”

I have a birthday card for a friend that I think meets the “dots” part of the challenge.

The white diecut background, “Diamond Background” by Simon Says, was backed with Papertrey Ink’s Raspberry Fizz cardstock. Then I die cut “Happy,” (My Favorite Things) twice—once in Raspberry Fizz and another in True Black to create a shadow effect. I adhered it to the background piece and added the rest of the sentiment, Papertrey Ink’s “Stylish Sentiments: Birthday,” by embossing it in white on black cardstock.

The dots for the challenge are in the form of Nuvo drops that I added to the background piece. They add just the right amount of dimension.

This card is for a teenager, but it could be easily replicated in different colors for both men and women.

AAA Cards Challenge

The current challenge at AAA Cards is more complicated than usual:

I'm playing along with the One Plus Three, but not the optional twist. The one is a sentiment and the plus three must come from this pie chart:

My three are a stamped image,  colouring (with Copic markers), and a die cut. Actually I have two cards created with Pink Fresh Studio's "Lush Greenery" stamps. It might appear that the cards are identical, but there are subtle differences between the stamped images.

I started by stamping the two images and coloring them with Copic markers. Then they were die cut with the coordinating dies. After stamping the sentiment from Papertrey Ink's "Penned Elegance," I added a narrow black border to the die cuts, and adhered them with dimensional tape to a square card made from Simon Says Green Apple cardstock. 

Another CAS design--and badly needed cards for my stash,