Mudpie finds a 4-leaf clover

I just got the SU Framelets Labels collection and thought that Mudpie was the perfect choice for my first time using such dies. He is recessed beneath the frames, which is perhaps why the scanner didn't produce a clear image of him. It also didn't pick up the Sakura Clear Star shine on his clover. You'll have to use your imagination!
The House Mouse stamp is O Lucky Day, and the Shamrocks are an old PSX stamp. I  Cuttlebugged the green frame with Swiss Dot. Mudpie and clovers are colored with SU Watercolor Wonder crayons and SU Stampin' Write.

Lulu's back!

Lulu just had to have a St. Patrick's Day outfit to wear on this ATC. She even dyed her hair red and grew freckles. I didn't tell her that the four-leaf clover she found is not a true Shamrock, which has only three leaves. St. Patrick used the Shamrock to explain the Holy Trinity; three Persons in one God. Happy St. Patrick's Day to you!
The other card celebrates Spring, and was used for an Inkstainers challenge to "make something on wheels". I think it pretty well expresses my longing for snowbanks gone, long, sunny days, and taking the garbage out without putting on boots and coat. My needs are simple--sometimes.

What Sewing Stash???

Here's fashion-conscious Lulu, a digital stamp from CSDesigns. She's my answer to the current challenge on Art with No Boundaries in Paper Craft Planet. Check it out
The challenge is "Fashionista", and asks that one use something from one's sewing stash, which in my case is non-existent. I did find a bit of rick-rack, so I qualify!
I must apologize to Chris Stern, creator of Lulu, and of the digital sentiment stamp I meant to use. The printer refused to cooperate, so I stamped the text and punched it out.
The scanner doesn't like white, which makes for a poor image. The background behind Lulu is Stampin' Up Fine Lace . Below the rick-rack, the cs is cuttlebugged with the Swiss Dot folder. Lulu has been watercolored with Twinkling H2O's; Egyptian Gold and Rose Petal.

Of Cats, Mice, Tea, and Harlequins

The Harlequin Games card is one I've been planning for some time, finally made last week. The bg stamp is SU Print Pattern, the Harlequin is a bonus pattern from the February/March 2007 issue of Stampers' Sampler magazine, and the "inchies" are CS Designs digital stamps, "Harlequin Images", and "Solitaire".

The teapot was done for a challenge by the group, ATC Artists, "Tea with Royalty", in honor of the wedding of Prince William and Catherine. I was a bit cheeky in using Alice in Wonderland images!

The other cards are ATCs, made for ATC Artist swaps with the themes, "Cats" and "Mouse House". Being a House Mouse stamps nut, I used those images instead of creating two ATCs of mice houses. The last two ATCs were made to make up for my mistake. I just had to make a story of these last, with one lucky mouse making a friend of a cat, and the other cleverly escaping through the "roof" of his house.

Nature's Chef

 The summer solstice is fast approaching, and yet the season has just begun here. The golden days of summer slip through our fingers faster than our youth.
Fripon, on the chaise longue, and Rascal, sunbathing, take advantage of every moment of these lazy days. I follow their example and spend as much time as possible outdoors. Breakfast on my balcony is a special treat in summer. There's a special quiet in the morning, a morning peace, broken only by birdsong, and, occasionally, the garbage truck.
I dug out a poem I wrote in the days when I was almost as young as morning:

Nature’s Chef

Summer takes each
Fresh new day and
Toasts it golden brown,
Then cools it
With the breath of night,
Serves it on platters
Of memory.

Butterflies and Helicopters

Yesterday, from my balcony, I witnessed the takeoff of hundreds of little "helicopters"; the winged seeds of the maple trees that flank my balcony. Every time a gust of wind shook the trees, whirling, dancing seeds took off to find welcoming earth to settle into.
I had recently watched a documentary on Monarch Butterflies, who winter in Mexico, and migrate in groups of thousands, making a journey seemingly impossible for such delicate creatures. The seedlings, too, are delicate, and not all land in a nurturing place.

If such fragile creatures dare impossible journeys with no visible help or encouragement, what can I not accomplish with friends, family and faith to support me!

The project in these pictures is one I've been at least a couple of years getting to. I used a kit from CardKeepers http://cardkeepers.com/wp/ which I covered with cs and stamped images. Now I don't risk having the cards I've received in trade or as RAKs get damaged. Having them easily on hand means I've got another source of inspiration.
Whatever you do today, I wish you success.



                                                                                 

Asian Squares and Oriental Darlings

It's 64F this morning, and another sunny, near-windless day is announcing itself. Cliché or not, mornings, especially beautiful ones, always make me feel as if anything is possible. What I failed at, or failed to do yesterday can be a triumph today.
A sparrow just alighted on my window tree and chirped at me! Possibilities, possibilities! If I could bottle mornings to inhale in moments of discouragement...!
This card was inspired by a great CSDesigns challenge at Papercraft Planet, Darlings of the Orient. Chris Stern of CSD is celebrating the launch of her latest digi stamps, Asian Squares, and challenges us to use any square--or squared--Asian image as the focal point of an art project. Take a look at what members of the design team have come up with: http://www.papercraftplanet.com/group/csdesigns/forum/topics/cs-designs-darlings-of-the
My Oriental Darling is Stampington's Puccini's Muse, and she's stamped in SU Cranberry Crisp. If you saw my last two posts, you know I'm on a Cranberry roll!
The little butterflies are from CSDesigns digital stamp collection, Itty Bitties Butterflies, and are watercolored with Sparkling H2Os by Lumenarte. The sentiment is also a CSD digital stamp. I love combining digital with material stamps!
I hope your morning is off to as great a start as mine, whatever the weather.