Little Baby Blue

Hi Everyone! How is your summer treating you? We are still experiencing fairly cool - and wet weather. But this is a good thing. They were predicting a drought for us this summer - and I'd rather have it this way than the other :0)!!

Here is my latest addition to the baby card run. This is really super-simple and clean. I do hope it blesses a new mommy somewhere in the end!

I always put in two shots - so as to not break with tradition - here is the second - but was there REALLY anything else to see ;0)!? Heee!

Thanks for popping in!

Have a blessed and absolutely wonderful day!

And thank you **SOOOOOO** much to those peeps who left me some great advice on lighting and white cards! It really was appreciated! I'm still on a learning curve, but have decided not to share all of my continued, frustrated agonies in living, painful detail! :0) Ha, ha, ha!!

Thank you again!

:0)!!

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Materials: Cardstock, Ink, Scallop Die, Buttons, Stamps - All Papertrey Ink; Floss - DMC; Pencil Crayons - Prismacolor

Get Well Story Card

Hi Everyone!! How is your mojo doing?? Sorry I am a little MIA from posting comments at the moment!!!

Here is a card which I made for a friend of ours. She is such a lovely, active and encouraging person, but she has been struggling with a period of prolonged exhaustion. I was talking with her this past weekend and she's finding this such a tough time. She is so used to being full of ideas and plans - and right now just can't do a fraction of what she'd like to be doing. She has had a barrage of medical tests - and I hope answers will be provided for her soon.

That said, she is one of those people who can be feeling really dreadful - and yet still find the inner strength to encourage and lift up the people around her. She is so inspiring!

I used the sketch at Card Patterns (#70)  this week to make this card. It is a 'story card' ....

and inside is this ....

Obviously, I am hoping that - like the butterfly - she will soon be free of the constraints that her illness has placed on her!

A few deets on the making -

The jar is stamped with PTI's new "Friendship Jars" set - the butterfly is part of Hero Arts "Antique Engravings" set. I applied some glossy accents to the jar to make it shine, and silver embossed the lid to give it a more authentic feel. The grass and lace are both from Flourishes. The butterfly is accented with some Diamond Stickles, and the little flowers down the bottom are punched from vellum, using a tiny EK success retro flower punch. The sentiments are from "Scattered Showers" and "Scattered Showers Additions" - I really love the expressions in both of these sets!

One day I hope to figure out how to make my white cardstock look WHITE in photos. It always comes out looking like white that has been washed with the blues in the laundry ... :0) LOL!

So there it is. I hope your day is a goodie - thanks so much for popping in!

:0)!!

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Materials: Cardstock, Ink, Button, Jar topper Die; Jar and Sentiment Stamps - Papertrey Ink; Butterfly Stamps - Hero Arts; Lace and Grass Tuft stamps - Flourishes; Embossing Folder - Provo Craft; Flower Punch - EK Success; Pearls and Rhinestones  - Kaiser; Chalks - Craf-T Products; Pencil Crayons - Prismacolor; Versamark Ink; Embossing Powder - Stampendous; Other - Home Dyed Seam Binding and Thread

P.S. Here is another shot with a filtered flash - so the colours are a tad bleached out - but the white looks white and the card looks more delicate - like it does IRL. Grrrrrr. I'll figure this one out yet .... :0( !! Thanks for bearing with my photographically challenged moments :0)

Clean Card

Hi Everyone! I hope you have been having the most wonderful weekend - LOTS of sunshine and happy memories!

I was hoping to have some craft time this weekend - but it just hasn't happened. There are some challenges I had hoped to play that are just going to sail on and pass me by .... sniff. :0)

Here is a card I made a while ago. It is based on one made by Dawn McVey, which she made *EVEN MORE* of a while ago - and I'm sorry, but I don't have a link. I made this from some notes I jotted down! (Dawn is ALWAYS inspiring - isn't she?!)

I used a mixture of Hawaiian Shores, Spring Moss, Yellow, Kraft and Cream for this one. Here is a peek at what I think looks *amazing* in real life ....

Vintage Cream ink on Hawaiian shores cardstock - it really looks *unbelievably* wonderful! The cardstock almost seems to glow underneath the ink! Weirdly good!

So there it is. A little share until I can enter into the hallowed halls of my craft room again :0)!!!

Now I'm off to make some tea for 2 of my favourite peeps in the world, outside of family - a great way to spend an afternoon - don't you think?!!

:0)!!

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Materials: Cardstock, Ink, Stamps, Buttons, Dies - Papertrey Ink; Rhinestones - Kaiser

Papertrey June Blog Hop Challenge!

Hi Peeps! It's time for another awesome round of inspiration! We had such an incredible turn out last month - I wonder how many players we will have this time! 

Before I  begin, I'd like to say a very, very

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

to Dawn McVey!! It's her birthday today as she shared on her blog - o, yesterday!

As you no doubt know, the theme for this hop is to choose your own colour palette and make a project with it. My colour palette was inspired by a girl's bedroom, which I saw in an old issue of "Better Homes and Gardens".

To extend the challenge a bit further, I decided to make another clear card (my second!) I enjoyed the first so much ... and here it is:

The background is stamped with "Turning a New Leaf", the flowers are made using the "Beautiful Blooms II" Dies, and the Berry Sorbet blossoms are stamped using images from "Petal Power" and "Background Basics - Diamonds".

The largest flower, on the left, is cut from red felt, and some vintage paper made its way into the mix too.

That was meant to be my whole post - but then my PTI order arrived!!! The very first time my release goodies have ever reached me before a Hop! So I made a card in celebration in these colours too :0)

I added a little glitter to the rose image to try and get that 'dewdrop' feel ...

Trying to keep it short here, so I won't write an essay on the rest of it! :0)

Thank you soooooo much for taking the time to visit me!

Have a fabby evening! See you there!

:0)!!

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Clear Card Materials: Cardstock, Dies, Ink, Leaf, Background and Sentiment Stamps, Buttons, Twine - Papertrey Ink; Houndstooth Stamp - Hero Arts; Spackle Stamp - All Night Media; Designer Paper - October Afternoon; Border Punch - Martha Stewart; Other inks - Colorbox Chalk Ink and Ranger Distress Ink; Rhinestones - Walmart; Other - Seam Binding; Thread; Vintage Paper

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Rose Card Materials: Cardstock, Scallop Die, Rose, Text, Flourish Stamps, Button, Twine, Distress Ink, Linen Texture Plate, DP - Papertrey Ink; Spackle Stamp - All Night Media; Sentiment - Hero Arts; Glitter - Stampendous, Versamark Pen; Prismacolor Pencils; Pearls - Kaiser; Labels Die - Spellbinders; Other - Seam Binding and Thread

Christmas in June!

Having been a member of the Papertrey Peeps for many months now, I was suddenly shocked to realise that although our very own Aimes Wanford hosts regular challenges on her co-owned blog "A Passion for Papertrey", I've never played along once! :-0!!

Obviously something needed to be rectified, so this card was made for their most recent "One Layer Challenge" :0)!

Yes, it's Christmas in June - but I have been dying to try out this idea with this stamp set - and it seemed like the perfect, early opportunity!

One layer cards are often not as simple as they seem to be are they? There is often masking involved and almost NO room for error!

I masked the Santa, then stamped the tree and surrounding images before colouring them in. Afterwards, I masked another rectangle to frame the central image before stamping a "tin types" background over the top, to subtly emulate lead paned glass.

The images are coloured in Prismacolor pencils. I quite like inconsistent, homespun, slightly weathred/organic feel they give to the image.

I accented various parts of the card with gold leafing pen (which unfortunately caught on some of the paper fibres and ran away with me!) And the sentiment was heat embossed with gold embossing powder.

Thanks for stopping in today! Thanks Aimes for a chance to play along with you!

I hope you have a joyful day - it doesn't HAVE to be Christmas to feel blessed!

:0)!!

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Materials: Cardstock, Stamps, Ink - Papertrey Ink; Pencils - Prismacolor; Gold Leafing Pen - Marvy Uchida; Rhinestone - Kaiser; Versamark ink; Embossing Powder - Stampendous

A Princess for Embellish

Hi Peeps! Tuesday here and my PTI packge is sitting in customs. Will I have it by the end of the week?? That is the question :0)! (Still, it's nice to know that its really and truly on the way and actually on 'home turf' now!!) Woohoooo!

Embellish Magazine comes up with the most creative colour combinations don't you think? This time they came up with :

"Yellow and Cream, Peach and Green ...." here is the eye candy ... and the theme ...

I'm still making baby cards to donate (looks like this will be ongoing) so it really was a matter of conscience for me to participate don't you think?! (A girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do... :0)

Hero Arts was selling this great crown image a while ago - and their baby stamps had this sentiment - "little princess" ... so I connected the dots ...

The flowers on the embossed crown are embroidered with silk ribbon - so are the little leaves. I coloured in the crown with a Versamark pen and added crystal glitter to the interior space.

The yellow card was cut with a blossom die. I cut out the same shape in vellum and embossed it to layer over the top for softness.

Some home dyed seam binding and a little heart button finished it all off!

Thanks to Embellish and their DT for another chance to play along! Beautiful things happening there!!

Thanks for popping in! We have sunshine and birds singing today. So beautiful!

I hope you have blessings today - in whatever form you find them!

:0)!!

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Materials: Cream, Green and Yellow Cardstock, Button, Ink - Papertrey Ink; Stamps - Hero Arts;Peach Cardstock - Bazzill;  Dies - Blossom, ; Scalloped Circle, Circle - Spellbinders; Embossing Folders - Diamond, Quickuts; Swiss Dot, Provo Craft; Border Punch - Fiskars; Pearls - Kaiser; Embossing Powder- Stampendous; Versamark Ink; Seam Binding; Thread; Silk Ribbon - Unknown; Crystal Glitter - Stampendous; 3D Dots - EK Success

ETA: A very excited THANK YOU to Embellish Magazine for recognising this card in their "What's Hot" spotlight! I'm so thrilled!! Thank you soooooo much!!

Lemony Cliche

Hellooooo Peeps! It's the start of a new week - my hunkadorus has the day off work today (BIG SMILE :0)!!! and it's raining gently outside (my favourite kind of rain).

Do you have family cliche's in your life? We do. Lots of them. My hubbley's family had them when he was young and we sort of inherited all of the 'traditional ones' from his side and then added a few of our own. It seems that for every occasion there is a one line groaner or a bright comment that everyone expects to come up. We all know them. We all expect them, and in a funny way we all love them!

When the hunkadorus' sisters were growing up they invented a new one. They loved the smell of lemons and decided that lemons were a symbol of something being in its "prime". If you're feeling sick "I just feel so un-lemony" you're about to get ready to go out "I'm just going to go and lemon up" ... and so it goes.

So when I bought a lemon stamp it was time for a card for my hunkadorus ...

The inside reads (in large letters) LEMONY!!

LOL! Just thought you needed all that previous explanation - because it doesn't mean SOUR :0)!!

Heee! He's a CAS lover - so this one verges on being overworked for him ... but there we go.

I hope that today is the beginning of a brilliant week for all of you!

And the greatest wish to share with any other stampers out there - May your stamps be always inky and your cardstock never run out!

Have a beautiful day!

:0)!!

(Flourishes Timeless Tuesday Challenge for this week was to use embossing on your card ... so this one has been popped in to play there!)

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Materials: Cardstock and Ink - Papertrey Ink; Lemon Stamp - Flourishes; Letter Stamps - Technique Tuesday; Spackle Stamp - All Night Media; Embossing Folder - Provo Craft; Pencils - Prismacolor

Blue and White

Blue and White. I love them. From French Toile's to Spode plates to Chinese ginger jars ....

So when I was perusing a magazine yesterday and came across this picture, it was time to pause and soak it in.

This is an advertisement for Sico Paint, the advertisement was found in Canada's "In Style" magazine.

Don't you love the white pillow with the blue floral - the crisp white upholstered chair against the "Spring Rain" wall? It really speaks of peace and tranquility to me with a beautiful edge. And then the little picture on the right hand side with the butterflies on it. I started thinking......

Why not incorporate the things that are beautiful to me in this picture into a card? What if the floral elements of the card are rendered in blue and white like the pillow - but the butterly looks as realistic as possible? Would it be a beautiful juxtaposition?

Well it worked for me. I loved experimenting with the idea! The butterfly is a Hero Arts Etching stamp - which was coloured with pencils and then painted with Oyster Twinkling H20's for the subtle shimmer of butterfly scales. I deliberately didn't make the butterfly too colourful to try and maintain an elegant feel to the card. Also, most butterflies around our area are more subdued in colour - and they were my 'living' inspiration ...

Trying to capture the shimmer was next to impossible ... but I hope you can get the idea!

Thanks for popping in and visiting me! I enjoyed sharing that!

Best wishes to those peeps who will be sharing tomorrow with the special men in life we call "Fathers"!! I pray that your day will be filled with love and blessings!

:0)!!

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Materials: Floral, Sentiment and Lace Stamps - Flourishes; Butterfly - Hero Arts; Cardstock and Ink - Papertrey Ink; Ribbon - Michaels; Pearl - Kaiser; 3D Dots - EK Success; Pencils - Prismacolor; Twinkling H2O's

Shabby Softness for Summer

The Shabby Tea Room is having another challenge this week, called "Summer Fun" or "Fun in the Sun" ... and our cards are meant to showcase our version of summer - and summer fun.

Well. I fudged slightly. Summer means flowers to me. I LOVE flowers - roses especially. So my card is all about flowers.

However - disclaimer here - I HATE gardening. The 'fun in the sun' part there isn't really true (Oh, I DO, do it, but I pull weeds with my teeth clenched!) . So if you can please imagine when you look at my card that I'm thinking about walking around a Botannical Garden for the 'fun' part - rather than pulling weeds in my own - I'd appreciate that - thank you :0)

I really wanted this card to be very, very soft. Like petals!

I opted for a clear card base to get a little extra shimmer into the design - also I thought about the "clear days" of summer (yes really :0)!

The floral embellishment backing is stamped with PTI's "Dot Spot" and then cut out with a scalloped circle from Spellbinders.

Here is one more shot of what the card looks like completely closed.

My family was so full of teasing jokes about this - I was asked why, if I was going to go to all this trouble over a card I was trying to make it invisible ...

It's my first shot at a clear card :0) Heeeee! So cute of them :0)!

Have a beautiful day Peeps! Thanks for stopping in!!

Blessings to you!

P.S. In case you wondered - those pins are regular dress making pins with beads threaded onto them. I would LOVE to be able to purchase hat pins - but my "LSS" (two hours away) doesn't carry them - so this IS about being creative - isn't it? :0)

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Materials: Acetate - Studio K; Stamps, Button, Twine; Yellow DP; Flower Dies - Papertrey Ink; Pearls - Kaiser; Sparkly Swirl - Walmart; Beads - Mill Hill; Also - Seam Binding; Vintage Paper; Thread

ETA: Thank you *SO, SO* much to the ladies at The Shabby Tea Room for recognising this card in their honourable mentions this week! It is *such* an honour - THANK YOU!!

Embellish Colour Challenge

When I saw this challenge posted at Embellish Magazine - I HAD to play! The sponsor is none other than Waltzingmouse - and there are 2 delicious stamp sets to be had. (YUMMY!)

These colours ARE a challenge for me and so a bit of thought went into my card. Initially a wedding theme seemed to be the 'right' thing to do - and we have good friends who are about to celebrate their 40th Anniversary soon. But it was not to be.

My Papertrey Ink Green Tea Leaves paper, just kept calling my name ... so that's where it started ... and then someone did an awesome favour for me ... so it kept going from there :0)

The theme of the challenge was to use labels - as well as the yellow/brown/coral colour scheme. This beauty is from Waltzingmouse's Vintage Labels 1, with extra details added in from Vintage Labels 4.

The sentiment is stamped with a Hero Arts stamp ... and I simply CANNOT get good coverage from my Dark Chocolate ink at the moment :0(  Sigh. Anyway ....

The ribbon 'flower' in the centre of this design is gathered ribbon. I pulled the gathering fairly tight and allowed the ribbon to do what was coming naturally.

The label and extra designs are embossed with gold embossing powder, and some pearls were added to finish it off.

(Note my new spackle stamp making an appearance here too :0) !! Just had to add that in!

Thank you so much to the ladies at Embellish Magazine - and to their DT - the samples were gorgeous. Our play is always work for you - it *is* appreciated!

Thanks Peeps for popping in! I hope you are having an awesome day - that just continues to get better!

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Materials: Labels Stamps and Embellishments - Waltzingmouse; Flower and Sentiment - Hero Arts; Spackle - All Night Media; Cardstock, Ribbon, Designer Paper - Papertrey Ink; Yellow Flower - Prima; Pearls - Kaiser; 3D Dots - EK Success; Versamark Ink; Embossing Powder - Stampendous; Labels Die - Spellbinders

ETA: I am so excited, thrilled and amazed that this card made it into the "What's Hot" section of the winner's page at Embellish! THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!! I just can't believe it! :0) (Pinch me, please!)

A True Story

The following story ladies, is true. I submit it to you here for your honest opinion and just vote.

Names have been changed to protect the innocent.

A certain husband (who shall not be called the hunkadorus) went out of town yesterday (without his wife), for the WHOLE day coming home long after dark.

This husband did not bring his wife flowers :0(

Time for exhibit A ...

This card has been made for the nameless husband for something he DID do ...

Exhibit B ...

Do you see all of those little 'age spot' dots????

The nameless husband bought his wife a STAMP. (One she happens to have been eyeing out for about 2 years and never could bring herself to pay for!) He hunted it down ....

and presented it to his wife - with NO flowers.

What do you think? Guilty or innocent? :0)!

(He has been smothered with gratitude and excitement before the jury is in on this one - sorry to say :0)

Heee, heee! I hope to see you all in blogland soon! This has been a busy weekend for me!

Thanks for popping in and laughing with me!!

Big smiles to you :0)!

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Materials: Leaf Stamp, Old Letter Writing, Sentiment - Hero Arts; Numbers - Fancy Pants; Age Spots - All Night Media :0)!!; Cardstock, Button, Twine, Green Ink - Papertrey Ink; Distress Inks - Ranger

Oooooooh Funky!

This is the picture for the Moxie Fab World Tuesday Trigger this week! It's called "Time to Chillax" :0)

I'm still feeling a little pastelled out (is that a real term?) from the baby card run, which is odd - because my very first report card ever brought home noted how much I LOVED pastel colours :0) Not much has changed! And they WILL be back!

Anyway, when I first saw these popsicles, I immediately thought of the amazing Dawn McVey - and her layers of luscious, luminous colours - colours - colours!

So layers of luscious colours - and some "Dawn Style" is where the mojo took me :0)

I used some pieces of Papertrey Designer Paper, and stamped some images on the other paper strips, before layering them like lollipops :0) - my background colours are a mix of Hawaiian Shores and Raspberry Fizz (which is the MOST difficult colour to photograph - don't you think??!)

My flower is a mix of stamping and felt - and the card was finished off with stitching - top and bottom and some beautiful buttons!

And this card is bright and cheerful and happy - and not pastel coloured. Aaaaaaaah! I got my colour fix!!!

Thanks for popping in! With the weekend HERE - I hope it's a good one!!

Smiles!!

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Materials: All Papertrey Ink; Except - Felt (unknown); Ribbon - Michaels; Orange Cardstock - Bazzill

ETA: I'm sooooo excited to have had this card chosen as a "Trigger Target" this week! Eeeeep!!

One For the Guys

Okay Peeps! Time for something different - LOTS of baby cards happening here and you have been so patient and encouraging - THANK YOU! :0)

The Shabby Tea Room is hosting a Guy Card Challenge "Just For Dad" this week. I felt pretty stumped over this one for a looooooong time, but after all those baby pastels was really ready for something completely different! So here goes :0)

I started out with some paper that had an antique looking map drawn on it, and added a "library card".(A free download which Heather Nichols made available during one of PTI's releases. Sorry I can't remember the exact post ...)

I stamped the library card with some "old letter writing", a tree from Waltzingmouse (my hunkadorus' favourite stamp) and some postage style stamps.

The stitching around the card varies from a straight stitch to a zig-zag. The metal tag and spinners are from Tim Holtz.

The die cut flourish behind the library card is embossed, sanded and accented with a few details of gold foil.

The brad and eyelet are extra details for the eye to absorb!

(I popped in the book, candle and glasses when taking the photo because the kitchen sink didn't fit - wink! Heeee!)

So there it is :0) Thanks for popping in!

Anyone out in blog land who loves David Austin Roses? Golden Celebration is blooming just outside my front door - the scent is absolutely incredible - LOVE it! :0)

Have a glorious day!!

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Materials: Tree and Sentiment Stamps - Waltzingmouse; "Postage" Stamps - Technique Tuesday; Antique Letter Writing Stamp - Hero Arts; Library Card Download - Heather Nichols; Cardstock, Ink, Scallop Die, Ribbon, Twine, Leaf Stamp - Papertrey Ink; Metal Tag and Spinners - Tim Holtz; Distress Inks - Ranger; Designer Paper - Memory-Stor; Die Cut - Quickutz; Diecut Paper - Core'dinations; Foil - Stix 2

ETA: This card was recognised at The Shabby Tea Room in the top 3 for this week! THANK YOU so much! It is such an honour!

Baby Girl

Hi Peeps :0)!! It's another week and 2S4Y is hosting Kazan's sketch number 54.

I'm still making baby cards (surprised :0)??? and so adapted the sketch for a little girl.

Another card in soft pastel colours - sorry if it's getting predictable here :0) Unfortunately my greens are looking a bit more yellow here than in real life ... but I hope you can get the idea !

I used some sparkles to accent the larger flowers, and some stickles to accent the butterflies, the smaller flowers and the scallops.

The background behind the grass/flower stalks is accented with chalk. I left the die in place while colouring and stamping so a white edge still showed when it was done.

Thank you to the ladies at 2S4Y for another wonderful week to play along!

Thanks peeps for stopping by! This is a great week - a Papertrey AND Flourishes release - I'm enjoying both so much. Isn't beauty and inspiration a wonderful thing??!!

Blessings to everyone for a truly beautiful day!

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Materials: Cardstock, Ink, Butterfly, Grass, Floral Stamp, Button, Designer Paper - Papertrey Ink; Sentiment and Scallop Stamps - Hero Arts; Embossing Folder - Provo Craft; Stickles - Ranger; Rhinestones - Kaiser; Floss - DMC; Label Die - Spellbinders; Chalks - Craf-T Products; Pencils - Prismacolors

ETA: I would like to thank the ladies at 2S4Y for recognising this card in the 2S4Y Fab 5 this week!!! I'm so excited and really, *really* honoured - THANK YOU!

Waltzingmouse and Envelope Challenge ;0)

So I guess you've heard about Waltzingmouse? Those cute, cute wonderful stamps!! Well they have started their own Challenge Blog HERE!

Now, have you heard about an envelope challenge??

That's where you'd love to make a card with tons of dimensionals on it, perhaps also make it square ... but the guidelines are that it has to fit easily in an A2 envlope. Sigh.

I'm still making baby cards to donate - and wanted to play along with Waltzingmouse. However, I was asked to make my cards "regular sized" for everyone's convenience. And life just isn't a 'one size fits all' is it??

Anyway. I played and couldn't do everything I wanted to - but had fun anyway - and that's what it's all about :0)

The bird in the brolley idea isn't new to me. I think it was Jennifer Holmes who first popped the duckey in there - cute huh?

 

Well, I don't know if my interpretation is a bit loose to actually be seriously submitted - but it was inspired by Claire :0)

Thanks soooo much for popping in people - and for the INCREDIBLY kind comments you have left me recently! Gracious, I can't tell you how encouraging you have been - and it has been sooooooo appreciated!

Smiles! :0)

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Materials: Cardstock, Umbrella, Duck, Polka Dot Stamps, Button, Ink, Scallop Die, Ribbon - Papertrey Ink; Text and Sentiment - Hero Arts; Dies - Circles and Blossom - Spellbinders; Patterned Paper - Source Unknown; Rhinestones - Kaiser; Pencil Crayons - Prismacolor; Chalk - Craf -T Products