Simply Wonderful Again!

A few days ago I posted that I entered my Simply Wonderful container in the PaperCrafts Mother's Day contest!

Well, today it was announced that I was one of two winners in the Food Wrap category! How cool is that! To check out the other winners click here.

Thanks so much PaperCrafts!

For You Mom!

I created this gift set using inspiration from both Cuttlebug Challenges and CPS sketch 113.

At CC we were were inspired to create something for Mom so I created a Mother's Day card using the CPS sketch. And as I had another wooden container from the dollar store decided to decorate it for Mom too!

I was going through my stash the other day and found this pansy and swirl paper by My Minds Eye to which I had matched some core'dinations paper.



So I used the blue embossed layer to create the base for my card which I sanded to emphasize the embossing. Then I used my other favourite technique of glittered frames but I did paint the chipboard in light green and then glitter it. Mom is cut using the Emily Quickutz font to which I added some bling and popped up the O. I then added a couple of diamond Stickled pansies.

I used very similar techniques on the butterfly container with the Quickutz font Moxie.



I think I was in a glittery mood tonight, they are both very sparkly!

Simply Wonderful

I decided to make a little something to enter into the Paper Crafts Mother's Day themed gift challenge. My creation has been entered into the Food Wrap category.

I had this flower shaped container from the dollar store that I painted in Bordeux by Making Memories.



I then added some paper from Cosmo Cricket's Jitterbug line(from my stash!). I also inked the papers in Brushed Corduroy and popped up the flowers on foam dots.



A little twine bow and American Crafts ribbon to tie the cellophane closed finished it off.

I think the sentiment of Simply Wonderful is perfect for Mother's Day or any other celebration!

To see all the other creative entries click here.




PS: I forgot to mention that this container holds chocolate covered jujubes! Yum!

Home Sweet Home

The Be Inspired Challenge this week at Cuttlebug Challenges is to create a Home Sweet Home card or project.

I created this card using papers from October Afternoon, Quickutz 'Chocolate' font and two cuttlebug folders. I also stamped home using Raintree stamps. I love the little houses on this paper, so cute!

What's Your Style?

I took the style quiz at Sproost.

Turns out my style is a 50/50 split between Wine Country and Classic! A pretty accurate result I think.

Wine Country Style




Tuscan sun, here we come! The Wine Country style reflects the feelings evoked by the seaside regions of Europe such as the South of France, Spain, Italy and Greece. The style manages to be both refined and casual, such that you can mix beautiful antiques with more rustic wrought iron or wood and the result is both sophisticated and cozy.

Furniture is large and comfortable, colors are bright and cheery, and regardless of the color palette the spaces almost always feel warm. You can easily translate the style into the perfect family environment but you can just as easily emphasize the more formal pieces and make your room the perfect adult getaway.

Classic





What's old is new again! The beauty of Classic style is how well it takes all of the beautiful forms, colors and textures of the past and reinvents them in a way that feels both fresh and inspired.

The style itself is a mix of European influences and French, English and Italian antiques and replicas are often used together. Furniture is well proportioned and comfortable and the rooms give off an air of sophistication and grace. Oil paintings depicting still-life or nature scenes and emphasizing symmetry of pairs helps maintain the traditional nature of the room. Windows are often covered with opulent fabric shades and/or drapery.

Traditional rooms give off an air of history that seems to say "I was here long before you, and will remain long after you've gone." And yet, even with this level of sophistication, the rooms are soft and inviting.

What's your style?

I've been shopping

at Etsy again!



This time I bought a laptop bag from Buttercuppity.



Ari made it for me in fabrics I selected and I love it!



It has a padded pouch for a lap top and then several sections for storing other items like a planner, pen, umbrella,water etc. I think its much more fun than carrying those traditional and might I say rather ugly looking bags.

Friends

My Mom kindly awarded me with this award:

FRIENDS… comes with the following description to be added & passed along: “These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated.” It also says : “Please give more attention to these writers. Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award.”
Love the sentiment and because of that I am awarding "Friends" on to:
Holly
Karen
Joanne
Judy
Lani
InkyFingers
Heidi
Mom

And also to some friends whose support and comments I treasure:
Kathryn
Brenda
Jeannie
Catherine

And last but certainly not least, one dedicated lurker I know is out there:
Dianne.

More Glitter

I used my new favourite technique of glittering frames and created this card based on CPS sketch #112.



I used chocolate box core'dinations paper embossed with a favourite Cuttlebug folder, glittered a chipboard frame using Martha glitter in Feldspar then added a few Prima flowers.

I'm loving glittered frames! I may try glittered chipboard flowers next!

Be Inspired # 27

The cuttlebug challenge this week was inspired by the upcoming tax deadline, to use numbers.


So I thought awhile then remembered this make and take offered by In A Pinch at Scrapfest this weekend.



I bought the stamp so decided to use this little calendar as the numbers on my card. I also used some new Coredinations Chocolate Box paper embossed with swirls then sanded to allow the turquoise to show through.



Then I added some Pink Paisley paper, a chipboard frame glittered with Martha glitter in Feldspar and popped up a couple of flowers.



The calendar was also stamped on Pink Paisley paper using chocolate brown ink. I envision this card as either a birthday card or a save the date card.



I think its one of my most favourite cards that I've ever made!

Speaking of Scrapfest, it was a terrific gathering of local(and some not so local)scrapbook related stores. Each store offered their own wonderful and unique products.

Here's a sampling of my purchases!



I'll be using them on some cards soon!

Lilies

Remember these?



They now look like this!

What I'm Reading

Not only do I come from a family of crafters but also from a family of readers.
Although some of us read more often than others and have passed along a huge stack(or several)of books to me to read!

I am currently reading this book:


I love the intrigue and history of Steve Berry's books. I wonder when they will be made into movies?

And I did just finish reading these two books:

Hmm, speaking of intrigue King Henry's court myabe helped to define that word! And I understand that this book will be a movie soon!



And I love this series of books by J.D.Robb(also known as Nora Roberts).



What are you reading?

Are you as wowed as I am?

Susan Boyle's voice is simply amazing.

She shows you're never to old to pursue your dreams! And to never judge a book by its cover!

You can check You Tube for her Britain's Got Talent performance but here's an old one she did several years ago for charity.

Welcome Spring

I decided to see if my mojo was completely back by creating a card following CPS sketch 111.

I think the mojo may be back(although this card did take me awhile to do) but my card using Pink Paisley papers certainly took the sketch and changed it up a bit, lol!

U R My Star

This card was a challenge!

Over at 'Use It' the challenge was to:
1. Go out of your comfort zone, which for me, like Regan, is guy cards

2. Use something you’ve been hoarding for a while. Hmmmm, do millions of scraps count because I used all scraps!

3.Use some of your new favourite things..paper, embellishments whatever. Well, I do like Perfect Pearls, the new smokey blue colour.....

4. Heat Embossing. Oh,oh, this is a tough one!




But I got to work and painted some chipboard stars brown. Then I inked them with Peeled Paint Distress ink. Then I heat embossed them with clear embossing powder. Then I sprayed them with blue smoke Perfect Pearls and water using my new Ranger Mini Mister. And let them dry! I used cardstock scraps, and a piece of Basic Grey paper edged using an EK Success border punch to create the card. Then topped it with letters punched from the Quickutz studio font and added my stars! The last star is popped up on foam dots for emphasis.

Whew! I think I used it!

Easter Lily

Brittany doesn't like the scent of my Easter Lily.



I happen to like it but then I like lilies, pretty much any kind of lily. From the smallest Lily of the Valley to the largest Stargazer or Rubrum lilies! Here's some Stargazers from the market last weekend!



But I got to thinking why is it called an Easter Lily? Via the internet, I learned that they were originally imported from Japan and must be grown under specific conditions to get them to bloom in time for Easter.



Then at Plant Answers I found this explanation on the tradition of the Easter Lily and its symbolism:

Each holiday is marked by cherished traditions that bring joy, comfort, and warmth, and provide continuity from one generation to the next. Easter has its share of traditions: egg decorations and hunts; gift baskets and chocolate bunnies, sunrise church services, parades, and, of course, the Easter Lily. For many, the beautiful trumpet-shaped white flowers symbolize purity, virtue, innocence, hope and life - the spiritual essence of Easter.

History, mythology, literature, poetry and the world of art are rife with stories and images that speak of the beauty and majesty of the elegant white flowers. Dating back to Biblical lore, the lily is mentioned numerous times in the Bible. One of the most famous Biblical references is in the Sermon on the Mount, when Christ told his listeners: "Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they toil not, neither do they spin; and yet..... Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these."

Often called the "white-robed apostles of hope," lilies were found growing in the Garden of Gethsemane after Christ's agony. Tradition has it that the beautiful white lilies sprung up where drops of Christ's sweat fell to the ground in his final hours of sorrow and deep distress. Churches continue this tradition at Easter time by banking their alters and surrounding their crosses with masses of Easter Lilies, to commemorate the resurrection of Jesus Christ and hope of life everlasting.

Since the beginning of time, lilies have played significant roles in allegorical tales concerning the sacrament of motherhood. Ancient fables tell us the lily sprang from the milk of Hera, the mythological Queen of Heaven.

The pure white lily has long been closely associated with the Virgin Mary. In early paintings, the Angel Gabriel is pictured extending to the Virgin Mary a branch of pure white lilies, announcing that she is to be the mother of the Christ Child. In other paintings, saints are pictured bringing vases full of white lilies to Mary and the infant Jesus.

The legend is told that when the Virgin Mary's tomb was visited three days after her burial, it was found empty save for bunches of majestic white lilies. Early writers and artists made the lily the emblem of the Annunciation, the Resurrection of the Virgin: the pure white petals signifying her spotless body and the golden anthers her soul glowing with heavenly light.

It seems the thirteenth-century Barthololmeus Anglicus had this in mind when he wrote: 'The Lily is an herbe with a white flower; and though the leaves of the floure be white, yet within shineth the likeness of gold." So goes the saying, 'To gild a lily is to attempt, foolishly, to improve on perfection." To many artists and poets it seemed that, if any flower could have one, the lily had a soul.


In yet another expression of womanhood, lilies had a significant presence in the paradise of Adam and Eve. Tradition has it that when Eve left the Garden of Eden she shed real tears of repentance, and from those remorseful tears sprung up lilies. The spiritual principle held here is that true repentance is the beginning of beauty.

A mark of purity and grace throughout the ages, the regal white lily is a fitting symbol of the greater meaning of Easter. Gracing millions of homes and churches, the flowers embody joy, hope and life. Whether given as a gift or enjoyed in your own home, the Easter Lily serves as a beautiful reminder that Easter is a time for rejoicing and celebrating.

The following poem by Louise Lewin Matthews captures the spiritual essence of the Easter Lily:


Easter morn with lilies fair
Fills the church with perfumes rare,
As their clouds of incense rise,
Sweetest offerings to the skies.
Stately lilies pure and white
Flooding darkness with their light,
Bloom and sorrow drifts away,
On this holy hallow'd day.
Easter Lilies bending low
in the golden afterglow,
Bear a message from the sod
To the heavenly towers of God.

-Louise Lewin Matthews

Wow! I was not expecting to find such a detailed and interesting answer.




PS: For care tips and directions on planting your lily in your garden, do check Plant Answers.