Bee Happy!

Yesterday was Earth Day and this guy celebrated with a little beekeeping!

[caption id="attachment_12441" align="alignnone" width="800"] Club Scrap® digital elements listed in the supplies list at the end of this post. Scrapbook layout sketch #90 by Susan Stringfellow at Sketch Savvy.[/caption]

He picked up a new hive Friday and got TWO calls about swarms over the weekend. The first swarm was already gone when he got there, but he was able to catch the second one.

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I bet the poor lady who called was happy too and the bees seem content in their new digs!

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Our backyard is kind of a wild kingdom right now...a huge vegetable garden, a dog, some bees, birds, squirrels and an owl. He showed up one afternoon and perched up in the pin oak.



Earth without art is just "Eh", so I had to make a card too!

[caption id="attachment_12442" align="alignnone" width="3401"] Bugaboo Stamps Owls and Flowers coloring page.  [/caption]

I printed the image on watercolor paper and got busy watercoloring the images with Faber Castell gelatos, TomBow Dual Brush pens, shading with Faber Castell Big Brush Markers and some Diamond Stickles for sparkle.

I trimmed some of the flowers with a craft knife and popped them up with some foam tape for a little added dimension. I opted to skip a sentiment, the colored images were too cute to cover up!

Today's post is part of the Cupcake Inspirations peach, lime and cream color challenge.



Our sponsor for this challenge is Bugaboo Stamps and they are generously providing our randomly chosen winner with a $12 voucher!

Be sure to check out what the rest of the Design Sweeties have created with Bugaboo stamps and link up for a chance to win! I'll look for you in the gallery!

SUPPLIES LIST

I link to sources for your convenience. Affiliate links used at no extra cost to you.

Club Scrap® Oopsie Daisy digital kit is no longer available, but the following kits are in the Club Scrap®  hybrid store.

Adirondacks

Garden Shed

Simon Says Stamp 

Faber Castell Gelatos

Faber Castell Big Brush Markers

Tombow Dual Brush Pens

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"Electric" Garden

I was first introduced to Just For Fun Rubber Stamps when I saw some of Roni Johnson's artwork on her blog a few years ago. I was hooked when I scrolled through the JFF website and saw the stamptangle images!  The stamptangle line is inspired by the zentangle technique and the images are so beautiful and intricate. The images are gorgeous in black and white, but what a difference a little color makes!

I used the eclectic garden stamptangle image. I wanted the image to really stand out, so I stamped on glossy black card stock with Versamark ink and dusted with a few colors of Perfect Pearls. Boom! An "electric" garden! I buffed over the card with a tissue and set the mica powder with a light mist of water. I love how the mica powders blend into each other!

There's still time to join our monthly challenge. The theme for April is Spring Flowers!

Click HERE to link up your spring flowers creation for a chance to win a gift certificate to shop at JFF Stamps! I'll look for you in the gallery!

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Curiouser and Curiouser

The times, they are a changing. Change in life is a given. It's all in how we manage the process. I choose to welcome the changes, because they will happen whether I want them to or not. Sigh...I didn't put out Easter baskets this year.  I don't have little children anymore. My sons are 27 and 20. Part of me was sad that I didn't do it. It felt weird not to get out the Easter baskets, but I did buy a bag of their favorite chocolate!



We spent the day with the Chapman's. It was a beautiful day! Dad got the pool ready and the dinner cooked...



and Millie and Ellie made dessert!



Ellie orchestrated a photo shoot with Steph, Granny and Mame.



This girl has STYLE!



These pretty ladies stayed dry and watched while I hit the pool with kids.



Shaking my head...this four year old with a big ego likes to wrap Aunt Wendy around his little finger...and I let him!



Jake and Kellan... sweet and crazy!

[gallery ids="12411,12412" type="square" columns="2"]

Kyle, before and after the bloody nose. He said he'd rather ride the range rover anyway!

[gallery ids="12421,12413" type="square" columns="2"]

Haylan at bat and Millie cheating to keep Uncle Chris from catching the fly ball!

[gallery ids="12414,12415" type="square" columns="2"]

Last but not least, the Easter egg hunt! The "Easter Bunny" filled and hid the eggs early in the morning.



They had a candy feast!

[gallery ids="12417,12418,12419,12420" type="rectangular"]

Of course I had to make a card to commemorate the day. A white rabbit showed up after all!

[caption id="attachment_12423" align="alignnone" width="4426"] Club Scrap® card stock and digital element from the Literature kit. Embellishments from my personal stash.[/caption]

The new Cupcake Inspirations challenge started today and the theme is "bunnies". There are too many cute bunny images out there to use them just once a year!



Sugar Pea Designs is our sponsor for this challenge and is generously providing a $25 gift certificate to our randomly chosen winner.



Make something using our theme and share it with us for a chance to win!



SUPPLIES USED:

Club Scrap® card stock

Club Scrap® Literature Digital Kit



CHALLENGES ENTERED:

Club Scrap 04/18 Card Sketch Challenge



Pile it On Challenge #141 Think Small

Love to Craft Challenge Blog #21 April Anything Goes

Hiding in My Craft Room #346 Freestyle!

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Doing the Oxide Lift!

No, it's not a new dance move! My crafty friend Julie at Cape Cod Scrapper shared a pretty spring card featuring the oxide lift technique.



She got the idea from this Simon Says Stamp video by Gina K and after watching it I had to try it too.

https://youtu.be/NwIzqVV9E9U

It just so happens that the new monthly challenge at Just For Fun Rubber Stamps starts today and the theme is Spring Flowers. Perfect for this technique!



I used the JFF Rubber Stamp image American Beauties to create my version of the oxide lift. A little Worn Lipstick, Shabby Shutters and Broken China Distress Oxide inks paired with Derwent colored pencils and voila! I also added some Diamond Stickles for a little sparkle and Club Scrap® Earth ink to frame my image.



Make something featuring spring flowers and share it with us for a chance to win a gift certificate to shop at JFF Stamps! I'll look for you in the gallery!

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Coffee Talk

I love coffee...hot coffee, iced coffee, coffee ice cream, coffee in the morning, coffee after dinner...Coffee=leisure and relaxation. A "cuppa" coffee, a good book and curled up in my favorite chair? Ahhhhh!

My youngest son painted this when he was in junior high. I LOVE it and and it hangs in my kitchen!



His art inspired mine.

[caption id="attachment_12383" align="alignnone" width="3542"] JFF Rubber Stamps Coffee Sign and Single Coffee Bean
CUTplorations ATC die.[/caption]

I tried a "new to me" technique. I colored the the stamp with some of Faber Castell's Big Brush Markers, huffed on it to remoisten and stamped on kraft card stock. I've tried this before with watercolor pencils and misting with water, but never markers. I wanted a clean stamped image and this effect was exactly what I wanted. I like how the distressed red paper soaked up the ink on the coffee bean image and blurred the edges!

The new JFF Rubber Stamps monthly challenge is to use a die cut.



Link up your die cut creation for a chance to win a gift certificate to shop at JFF Stamps!



SUPPLIES USED:

I link to sources for your convenience. Affiliate links used at no extra cost to you.

 Faber Castell Big Brush Markers @ Simon Says Stamp



Stickles Glitter Glue in Diamond @ Simon Says Stamp



Club Scrap® card stock

Club Scrap® Trattoria Love charm 



CHALLENGES ENTERED:

Pile it On Challenge #140 Circles or Squares

All Sorts Challenge Blog Week 459 Bring on the Bling

Sweet Stampin' Challenge Blog Use up your paper scraps!

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Rolling with my Peeps

I love a good joke, especially the kind that evokes a good belly laugh. You know, the side splitting guffaw, tears running and you can't breathe laughter? I feel euphoric after a good laugh and always want more. My sister and I would try to make each other laugh all the time when we were kids, especially in church or other places where it was "inappropriate"! We would get the biggest kick out of making my straitlaced grandparents laugh. Memaw would have to tell Papaw to calm down! My kids knew from an early age, all they had to do was make us laugh and all would be right with our world. My husband says that he asked me out a second time because I laughed at his cheesy pickup line AND I had big boobs. *shrug* Laughter truly is good for the soul!

This is my kind of humor...



It reminds me of the videos of Gramma and Ginga!

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-fcv-aSRlk]

I recreated this cartoon on an Easter card. I don't like marshmallow peeps, yuck, but they are a kitschy celebration of spring. I won't eat them, but I'll make art with them!



The new challenge is up at Just for Fun Rubber Stamps and the theme is die cuts. I dusted off my Cuttlebug and cut the background panels using one of STAMPloration's crazy running stitch rectangle dies and trimmed the green panel with Lawn Fawn's stitched hillside borders.  I stamped the blue background panel with JFF Rubber Stamps seashore grass silhouette for depth. The marshmallow bunnies were stamped on Club Scrap® card stock (don't you love the patterned paper from the Delft collection?) and trimmed with detail scissors. I added some Diamond stickles for sparkle and a little bowtie that was an embellishment in Club Scrap® 's Trattoria kit. I added a three-part bow to make things a little more festive. (Watch this video to view the steps to create a perfect three-part bow for yourself!)

I created the speech bubbles in Photoshop Elements using digital elements from Club Scrap® 's Comics kit, printed them on white card stock and trimmed with detail scissors.



I like to add dimension with a little foam tape, so I popped up the Happy Easter speech bubble and dapper bunny with a few pieces.



I had a leftover bunny, so I gave him an Easter makeover. May I present...Sir Peepsalot!



My crochet skills came in handy! I chain stitched some gold wired string I had in my ribbon basket and added an over sized egg with some stickles to complete the necklace. My little Easter rapper needed some sunglasses, and the Tim Holtz Crazy Things stamp set had the perfect pair!

Link up on the Just For Fun Rubber Stamps blog with your die cut creation for a chance to win a gift certificate to shop at JFF Stamps! I'll look for you in the gallery!

Life is better when you're laughing! ♥

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