Planting for Thanksgiving

When I read that this month's theme (and by this month I mean March/April) for the Sisterhood of the Traveling Cards is "What's Cooking?", my first though was my little Inky Antics chefs. They have been staying with Linda for a while, but she said she could send them back home again. I was not, however, positive that that was the direction I wanted to go, so I went sketch challenge blurfing for inspiration. 

I browsed at least five different challenge blogs, but it was not until I saw Freshly Made Sketches(#76) that I was inspired. To the stamp room I went and started opening drawers. Suddenly I remembered I had a fruits and vegetables drawer! On top was this lovely set from The Angel Company (now out of business) and I knew right away what I was going to do. 

Embossed lines on the brown card stock evoke planting rows (or that was the plan anyway). My first thought for the designer paper panel was to find something kitchen wallpaperish but the ones I found were too busy; I opted for the muted print instead. The sketch calls for a sentiment, but I did not know what to say. First I tried "Happy Thanksgiving" cuz these are all (intentionally) Thanksgiving veggies, but, no wait, they are seed packets and should have planted long before the holiday. Next I looked at "Thinking of You" cuz I am thinking of you as I plant the veggies for our Thanksgiving dinner, but that seemed too much of a stretch. Truth is I am not a fan of sentiments - what if the sender wanted to say something different with this card? It took a while, but I finally decided upon a plain knotted ribbon instead.

Originally I was planning to make a tomato seed packet, but then I suspected that Jeanette does not like tomatoes, so I went with corn. At least it gave me a little color contrast against the carrot and pumpkin. When the card was all put together, I felt it needed a little something, so the "O" in corn got a little jewel. Livens things up a bit don't you think?

Card Details:

Image: The Angel Company

Sentiment: N/A

Cardstock: SU, GP

Ink: Memento Rich Cocoa

Tools: Cuttlebug, embossing folder

Coloring: Prismacolor markers

Embellies: Basic Grey ribbon, unknown bling

Parrots (and Bunnies) are Pets, too!

Most of the people, it seems to me anyway, on Lisa's Pet Lovers swap have requested to receive only cats or only dogs. Much as I love cats and dogs, the pets I most wish to fill my home are parrots. In fact, when looking at houses the other day, I pointed one out to Main Squeeze that had a porch that could easily be tiled and screened for Darwin to enjoy his summers; he just rolled his eyes. Another house had so many bedrooms, I mentioned Darwin having his own room, and Main Squeeze exclaimed, "You want to give the bird his own room?!" Well, yeah, why not?


One of the most beautiful birds, in my opinion (obviously as this IS my blog), is the cockatoo. Umbrella Cockatoo to be exact. It is in their honor that I made this card. His beak could be a bit darker, I know, but I only had the one shade of gray in my Prisma collection. This will be remedied as soon as possible.

The designer paper is from a stack by DCWV called Pocket Full of Posies. I bought it cuz it is not my usual style and, what can I say, it was on sale. Coordinates pretty well with the SU card stock don't you think? And I like the vine-y look to it. Makes the little guy feel more at home. I am not sure how he feels about the Magic Mesh, though.


Princess A joined in on the fun for this swap as well. For her entry, she chose bunnies. I am pretty sure it was to honor her most beloved stuffed friend, Mel. (You may remember him from an earlier post around her birthday.)

Great Impressions made this stamp as three blocks in a row, but because her swap was for 3 x 3's, she had to separate the bunnies. The card stock is SU and the dp was from a brand new package (thanks to one of my secret sisters), an 8 x8 slab from Provocraft. The bunnies are colored with SU markers and the card is finished off with some baubles I had received in a long ago swap.

Be sure to leave her some love!

Diaper Fold Pouch and Tag

I am Miss April. Well, for Paola's Calendar Girls Diaper Fold Pouch and Tags swap, anyway.

I never thought I would find another tool I would love as much as my Cuttlebug, but WOW, my new Crop-a-dile II has really blown me away. I found the designer paper quickly and easily. Immediately I knew what I wanted to do and how I wanted my pouches to look, but I never gave a thought to the fact that once these babies are folded there are many, many layers of paper to punch through in order to set an eyelet. Crop-a-dile II to the rescue! Thanks to my Main Squeeze I received one of these amazing tools for Christmas. Popped out those corners with great ease and set those eyelets with just a wee squeeze. Considering my hand strength is nowhere near what it used to be, I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was. And no pain to my joints.

Basket was now ready, but what to do about those tags? I waited while others posted their creations. Still stumped. Finally I decided to spand some time in the basement with my stamps and see if something jumped out at me.

Princess A was a little distressed when she first saw the tag. She could not believe I have had this little bunny and never shown it to her before. Reminded her of the Velveteen Rabbit.

Bunny is from TAC, sentiment is SU and the eggs I am pretty sure are Hero Arts. I stamped the eggs with SU classic ink pads. The bunny is colored with my brand new Prismacolor markers that I got for my birthday (Again, thanks to my Main Sqeeze!). Obviously I am still learning exactly how to get the best results, but I thought they came out pretty cute. And Princess A was appeased when she learned that I had made an extra for her.




Here they are together.