Fall gardening and inspiration

Hi, all!  I hope this week has been as good for you as it has for me.  I enjoyed the company of my youngest sister, her husband and one of her two daughters for several days, and am still relishing a visit from my mom- 88 years young!  Just as the weather is changing in most parts of the country, we are getting our version of autumn in SW Florida-- slightly cooler nights, lower humidity, and fewer rain showers. It makes for a much more pleasant time doing outdoor chores (in summer my favorite outdoor activity involves being in the pool), and I have taken advantage of the change to do a little weeding, trimming, and re-potting.  I always think of these activities in the same way that I do crafting, achieving pleasure from the beauty of the end result.  I'm often bringing plants in- and out-doors, too, so I can enjoy them close up at their most beautiful--orchids and Christmas cacti are prime examples of my seasonal indoor plants-- but some plants just have to stay outdoors.  Here is an example of one of those:

What fun for this former New Yorker to be poking around the garden and come upon this!   Obviously not something I can bring inside (at least until it's ripe and delicious!), but I was inspired to bring this home from a recent trip to HomeGoods:

Isn't it great?  And it was just the color I needed to perk up my reading corner ( see last post).

I love referencing nature in my home and in my crafting.  Next project, though, will be a scary reference to nature- my grandson and I are building a skeleton from toilet tissue and paper towel tubes.... I'll be sure to post the pics!

Michelle

Autumn crafts

Hello, friends!

Unfortunately, between work, a certification exam, and having out-of-town family visiting, my card making has fallen temporarily to the wayside. I was able to get in a little crafting, though, in preparation for company.  Here is one of two wreaths I made, inspired by a Pinterest pin, for my front doors:

Also inspired by Pinterest, I decorated some pumpkins with puffy paint dots, and displayed them on candlesticks that I already owned:

Then, I dressed my favorite reading corner with an autumn floral display (I have since switched out the pillow for one with "seasonal" color):

Autumn in SW Florida is more a state of mind than an actual season, so these little changes put me in that state of mind, and help to remind me that the Christmas season (my favorite!) is only about seven weeks away.  Now that I say that, I had better get back to my crafts!

Happy autumn,
Michelle

Embossing challenge!

Happy Tuesday!  I've been anxious to join in on this week's embossing challenge at CAS-ual Fridays.  Find them at http://cas-ualfridays.blogspot.com/ and get in on the fun!  I use several embossing folders in my cardmaking, but I thought I would try something different and do a heat-embossed image.  I bought a stamp last year that I haven't had much opportunity to use, a walleye fish by Fred B. Mullett (!).  I thought it would be a nice stamp for making a card that would appeal to men, but I glammed it up a little with Recollections' glitter embossing powder.  Then I scored the paper for a little more dimension (with my new scoring board from Martha Stewart Crafts), and backed it with navy blue paper.  I'm still not too good at getting a satisfactory picture, but practice, practice, practice!

I hope you all have a great week.  Thanks for stopping by!

Michelle

School days...

Another week has flown by, and it was a busy one!  Saturday had me running errands and doing some much-needed chores around the house, as well as having dinner with friends, but I couldn't go to sleep without a little time for cardmaking-- and now it's after 3 am!  I'll get to sleep soon, but first I want to post my next entry for this week's challenge at CAS-ual Fridays: find them at
 http://cas-ualfridays.blogspot.com .  The challenge this week is "Top of the Class"- a clean and simple back to school project.  Even though it's been a long while since I was sending my children off to school, this time of year is still exciting, with grandchildren starting the new year and sharing what they are learning.  Many of my friends are teachers, and this card is a way to say "hats off to you, for all you do".  I hope you like  it, and that all of your little ones have a wonderful school year.

 

I downloaded the paper design printable from abcteach.com, used a Stampendous "thank you" stamp, and cut the apple from paper from Heidi Grace Designs.

 

Happy crafting!

Michelle

 



Ahoy, there!

Happy Sunday!  I've been at home today finishing preparations for a tropical storm, so after that was done it was a good day to work on some projects, including this week's CAS-ual Fridays challenge with the theme "Banners and Flags".  See the challenge at http://cas-ualfridays.blogspot.com/    There is lots of inspiration there!,   Here is my entry-- my husband was in the Coast Guard, and has in the past talked about naval alphabet flags, so I thought I would use them to spell L-O-V-E. 

Hope you like it, and good luck to anyone else in the path of Tropical Storm Isaac!

Michelle

I'm at it again....

I'm back!

I had such fun with my first card challenge, I looked for others online.  This one is for CASology http://casology.blogspot.com/  .  They also are looking for "Clean And Simple" designs, and this challenge is "green".  My brother-in-law was coming for the weekend, but I sat down before his arrival to see what I had in my stash that might fit the bill.  Here is what I came up with:

I used the Sizzix Alterations flowers, and an old Inkadinkadoo stamp.  Thanks for the inspiration!

Getting Started

I have really enjoyed reading other people's blogs over the years, but never felt moved to write my own.  I guess I didn't feel that I had anything original to contribute, but now I'm motivated to start, due to a creative challenge posted by CAS-ual Fridays, a group of cardmakers that host a contest based on a weekly theme.  I'm relatively new to papercrafting, though I am a crafter in various other media from waaaay back, but I thought this would be a good way to get me to think outside the box a bit. The weekly contributions are very inspirational, so if you are into cardmaking, check out the website at  www.cas-ualfridays.blogspot.com/  This week's challenge is "something you'd see at the ocean", so here is my contribution:

I added a little texture to the sand by dry embossing with a Cuttlebug "Forest Branches" folder and my Sizzix Big Shot; the shapes I just cut with scissors. I raised the umbrella with some double-stick mounting tape. Hope you like it; I had fun putting it together!