Tall ships

Hello friends!  Have you noticed the nautical themes lately?  I adore them and the challenge over at The City Crafter is a play on words ... "It's a Shore Thing".  How cute is that?  I'm thinking warm sand in shades of brown and tan, seashells everywhere as you wade through the waves of clear blue water, and tall ships in the distance on the horizon.

Baja Breeze cardstock is the perfect shade of aqua for this card.  Layered with print papers from a Clearance Rack Find ... Autumn Meadows (on the left) and a scrap from my drawer (on the right).  Inks are shades of Cherry Cobbler and Marina Mist.  The stamp set you'll recognize as The Open Sea .. I've used it before here.  A translucent envelope creates a different look while the ship is bordered with a decorative punch.  Pins and Cherry Cobbler Bakers Twine peek out from behind shabby seam binding dyed in blue and soft yellow.

My handmade burlap flower rests on white velvet leaves.  I'm not sure I've ever made a "brown" flower before, but here the color works.  A bit of lace, a black button, and a sweet little seashell (thank you Shirley) sits on top.  My sentiment asks you to remember Our Journey ... a word within a word and so fun.

The inspiration piece is fabulous as are the projects posted by the Design Team!  Be sure you pay a visit to see all the wonderful "sea-nery" over at The City Crafter.  Sorry, I just had to do that.

Thanks again for stopping by.

Soft and lovely ...

Hello friends.  I have another Birthday Celebration to share with you!  Did you know it's Cheryl's special day?  Kirsty along with all the lovely and talented ladies over at The City Crafter are "shouting her praises" and wishing her all the best ... be sure to stop by and share some love.

Soft shades of pinks mixed with the natural coloring of light browns ... I admit, it's a favorite of mine.  In the garden and in my craft room.  These patterned papers are thrown together from my scrap drawer - some from the Lap of Luxury collection, another from Newsprint Designer, the rest from "here and there".  I always enjoy the first step of creating ... pulling out all my goodies in the desired shades of color.  Putting this color with that color ... or maybe that pattern with this pattern ... having it all tossed about in front of me to play with - pure bliss.  The ribbon is seam binding dyed with Elegant Eggplant Classic Ink ... it's delicious and I love the mottled look.  A sweet pink button from Designer Buttons - Subtles with a delicate little pearl tops off my bow. 

The gorgeous globe stamp is part of the The Open Sea set and the sentiment (a wonderful font) is from Happy Greetings.  A pretty pink velvet leaf and handmade flower adds a soft texture and a touch of shimmer.  Yes, I've restocked my ETSY store with more blooms (I knew you'd ask).

Happy Birthday Cheryl ... thank you for all the inspiration you have given me and for all you do!

The Open Sea ...

Hello friends!  It's wonderful to be back sharing with you again!  I won't be a bore with a list all the activities that have distracted me over the past couple weeks ... but it's all good (as they say).  On Mother's Day (after a weekend of volleyball on the other side of the state), I returned home to find my son with the GREAT BIG HEART did this ....

 ... he planted my old clay pots with beautiful flowers!  Utterly exhausted, I pulled into the driveway and saw these "gifts" from him - I was so touched and so very proud.  He also photographed some flowers in the garden that he thought were special  - I think they are special too.

Even though I've been "away", I've tried to visit all your blogs ... leaving notes here and there - you keep me inspired and wishing for more time in my craft room!  I'm sure you've seen the adorable beach scene over at The City Crafter Challenge Blog.  Kirsty and her team of fabulous designers have done it once again ... so much to see and sigh over ... be sure to pay them a visit!  Here's the inspiration -

Beginning with Very Vanilla Cardstock, I layered on prints from the new Nautical Expedition Designer Series Paper collection.  It's gorgeous with shade of blues and neutrals.  It also has wonderful red prints and I really wish I would have used one as a splash of color on this card.  (Next time...)

The nautical images are from The Open Sea  and the sentiment from the retired "In A Word".  The buttons are from wherever I can collect them (you can never have too many buttons).  My seam binding is an old piece laying around that I dyed with reinkers ... shades of blue that I don't recall which I used.  The flower is handmade from cardstock with a pearl to embellish the center.

That's all for today but I'll be back again tomorrow.  Thanks for stopping by - I appreciate your visit!