Coneflowers!

 

My husband and I go for morning walks at least five days a week, and lately I have been admiring one particular corner in our neighborhood. It's a profusion of color with clusters of various blossoms, and this morning (knowing our current POTW!) I was inspired by these beautiful coneflowers. I should have taken a wider shot to show more of this delightful colorful corner. The butterflies and I love it!

Coneflowers belong to the daisy Asteraceae family but the various types could belong to one of five different genera – Dracopis, Echinacea, Rudbeckia, Ratibida, and Isopogon which are further subdivided into numerous species.  These Black Eyed Susans belong to the Rudbeckia genus, whereas the traditional purple coneflower is of the genus Echinacea. They definitely have similarities in appearance but there are subtle differences when one decides to dig deeper. Some are annual, others perennial, and others biennial.  

I love it when a craft project becomes an accidental, spontaneous unit study!  

 

This stamp set has always been a favorite, but I think this is the first time I've colored them anything other than the traditional Echinacea coneflower pink or purple (examples here).  

We've had a few real "scorcher" days already and we just passed Summer Solstice, so maybe that is what helped to inspire this hot Summer color scheme with designer paper from the Craft Consortium Ink Drops Sunset paper pad.  

Here's the inside.    

Stamp Simply

Supplies:

• Stamp Simply Clear Stamps - Thank You for Caring Coneflower Bundle
• Stamp Simply Clear Stamps - Vintage Seed Packet Bundle
• Craft Consortium Ink Drops Sunset 6x6
• Gems
• Ribbon
• various distress oxide inks and white acrylic paint
• Copic markers

Vintage florals

Today's project is a pair of cards that feature the two sets from this week's Product of the Week.  They were quick to make, using two sheets of designer paper cut into quarters diagonally. 

 

Stamp Simply

The neutral color palate with two different floral stamp sets gets a pop of color with the same few Copic markers.     

Each card uses an image and sentiment from only one set.  

Here's what the inside of each card looks like. Relatively clean and simple.

Supplies:

• Get Well Tulip & Thinking of You Rose
• Craft Consortium Vintage Emporium 6x6
• Seam Binding Sampler - Vintage Neutrals - 40 yards
• Gems
• Copic markers
• tea dye distress ink
• white acrylic paint for spattering

Water Baby!

Hi y'all!

A few days ago I was watching a knitting podcast and the knitter (a proud grandma!) mentioned that the pool was for {insert baby's name here!} and it got me thinking about a bath or pool theme for today's Welcome Baby card.  

I used two circle dies to cut the "inner-tube" and added some piercing to mimic the seams in the vinyl of a real life inner-tube.  The onesie, bib, star, and duckies are all from our Welcome Baby series. All of the die cuts were sponged, shaded and splashed to add dimension and detail.  

I stamped the sentiment directly onto the Ombre' designer paper.  

Here's more of that same paper on the inside with another sentiment and die cut from Welcome Baby.  

 Stamp Simply

This series is our current product of the week so hurry over to grab a set while it's on sale!   

Supplies:

• Our Welcome Baby Series
• Craft Consortium Tartan Plaid 6x6
• Craft Consortium Ombre 6x6
• Spellbinders Nestabilities - Standard Circles LG
• Gems
• Faux Linen Ribbon
• cord
• various distress oxide inks for sentiments and shading
• white acrylic paint splashes
• button from stash
• piercing tool and mat/guide

A Card of Congratulations

Hi everyone!  

My card for today, a card of congratulations for a wedding, an anniversary (or with the right embellishments, just about any occasion) uses a couple of sets that are featured in our current Product of the Week.  It's essentially a standard card with another backward opening slightly smaller card inside.  I've used lots of layers but it could be done more simply with fewer layers if that's your style or current mood! 

I used oval nesting dies to cut a window through the card front to allow the image from the smaller card to show through.

Here the outer card is opened with the front of the second card fully visible.  The lavender mat is actually sandwiched between the two cards, the three layers glued together. 

And finally, here's the inside card, opened in the opposite direction. There's a lot of room here for a special sentiment, some more pretty paper or another lovely image, or just plenty of white space for lots of hand-written well-wishes.  

Stamp Simply

Supplies:

• Stamp Simply Clear Stamps - Wedding & Anniversary Wishes
• Stamp Simply Clear Stamps - Love
• Stamp Simply Steel Dies - Fishtail Sentiment Banners
• Craft Consortium Ink Drops Rose 6x6
• Pink silk ribbon
• oval dies
• Copic markers

In case you might be interested...I have been busy with lots of fiber arts this week, including dyeing some merino-linen yarn in a lovely pink using acid dye in a cold water bath method out on the patio in the sunshine.  (You can see the reflection of the trees in the water if you look closely!). 

I've been spinning a lot too, trying to clear the spindles and wheels in preparation for Tour de Fleece which will begin (as does Tour de France) on July 4th.  There will be a lot of fun crafting to try to keep up with over the next several months.  

Here are a couple of skeins I have finished spinning in the last week or so.  

I've started another spin thinking it might make a good partner for that green skein.  We'll see whether it works out!  

Have a great week!