The Gardens

 

We are really enjoying our raised garden beds this year.  I planted early and filled the 9 beds with cool weather loving crops like spinach lettuce, radishes, beets, snow peas, carrots and potatoes.  As a result, we have been enjoying fresh salads from the garden for months.  I like to grow sturdy-leaved lettuce varieties like romaine so that they have a nice crunch in a salad. 

 

These are some of our different radishes and beets.  One of the varieties I planted was the Easter Egg radish.  They were very colorful.  The beets did very well in the raised beds.

 

We placed hog panels between the beds to form arches for the climbing plants.  For spring, we have peas and snow peas.  My new favorite snow pea is a golden variety called Golden Sweet.  The lighter color makes it much easier to see the pods when harvesting.

 

These are some of our pretty flowers from the perennial beds.  The iris is an older variety from a friend and the little purple flowers are called Wine Cups.

 

The beautiful and fragrant rose is a newcomer to the gardens this year.  I found it at Walmart.  The columbines are behind my house and have been coming back since 1994.  Some years the colors are different from hybridizing, but they are always pretty. 

 

 

Testing Lindy's Magicals

My favorite thing to do when I get new craft supplies is to try them out.  I love to see the colors and the sparkle of Lindy's Magicals.  5 ordered three new sets: Sweet Treats, Drink Me silly and Prairie Wildflower. 

 

I used a watercolor brush to test the colors on a piece of watercolor paper.  Once it dried, I used the scrap pieces for die cutting.  This is a creative use of the scraps and they always make unique die cuts.  All dies are unbranded.

Lindy's Inspired Doodle Cards

Lindy's designer, Asia, posted these beautiful cards she made using her own doodles and Lindy's Magicals.  Her post can be found on the Lindy's blog.  I was inspired to try making my own.  My daughter, Alexandra, is a talented artist and she created all of the doodles.

As she was drawing more doodles, I began coloring the designs with Lindy's Magicals and a watercolor brush.  Each design is unique and will make a beautiful card.

I used several colors, listed below and each time I switched colors, I :cleaned up" the mess on my glass mat using a piece of watercolor paper.  I really hate to waste the pretty sparkly watercolors.  The end result turned out beautifully.   

I used an unbranded die to cut a glossy black flower design.  I glued this over the Lindy's scrap color background.  Beautiful!

Lindy's Magicals Used:

Clam Bake Beige

Prima donna Purple

Hi Maintenance Magenta

Whale Watch Blue

Blingy Blonde

Autumn Maple Crimso

Sassy Sapphire

Drop Dead Gorgeous Green

Ponderosa Pines Olive

Time Travel Teal

Salt Water Taffy

Sea Grass Green

Dragonfly Collage

 

This month I decided to create a piece for the Lindy's Color Challenge.  I chose canvas board as my substrate and added lots of Lindy's color.

 

I started with Lindy's Magicals and their new Squirts.  I lovve the shimmer from the classic Magicals, but the intense color of the squirts make this an exciting new coloring medium.

 Once the background color was dry, I added texture using Bo Bunny Glitter Paste in a couple of colors using two different stencils.

 

Next, I added Lindy's embossing powder to select areas of the purple glitter paste.  This softened the glitter look and gave me the Lindy's color I was looking for.

 

This dragonfly has been in my stash for years.  This piece was too big for a card, but perfect for this larger canvas.  It is solid metal and was originally a rusted copper color.   I swiped it with embossing ink, sprinkled Lindy's embossing powders and melted.  I love the shimmery look you get from layering these powders.  

I used Lindy's squirts to color the paper clay plaques at the top and bottom of the collage.  I sprinkled a little embossing powder on them as well. 

 

For the leaves and flowers, I added a layer of foil leaf cutouts in purple and gold and then adhered a few pre-made flowers.  I colored  the smaller flowers with Lindy's Magicals and then finished them off with Nuvo Dream Drops.

 

Products used:

Lindy's Magicals: Hi Maintenance Magenta, Blingy Blonde and Prima Donna Purple

Lindy's Squirts: Poutine Gold and Polite People Purple

Lindy's Embossing Powder: Golden Angel Wings, Cafe Au Lait and Hydrangea Blue Mauve

Bo Bunny Glitter Paste: Pink Punch and Gold

Nuvo Dream Drops: Gold Luxe

Crochet Baby Blanket Progress

 

I have been working on the new brightly colored baby blanket.  I only have a few rows left on each square before I assemble them together.  There are three squares each of two colorways.  I like the feel of the Carol, Simply Soft yarn.

 

I whipped up llama for my daughter's birthday last week.  I found and purchased the pattern on Etsy from Nellas Cottage.  I modified it a little, but it turned out really cute.

Thanks Tags

 

I had fun playing with new stamps from Simon Says Stamp.  My inspiration came from Papertrey Ink.

 

I started by smearing a little ink directly from a Memento ink pad to create the background color of the flower.  Then I stamped the image with a slightly darker color.  Then I diecut all of the flowers and leaves.  I used alcohol inks and blending solution to apply color to Heidi Swapp glitter paper and then die cut the thanks from it.  The color is subtle when dried and gives a different look than Ranger Silver Sparkle Alcohol ink paper.

I also used the same glitter paper to diecut the hole cover and the flower centers.  These tags are very simple, but the pops of color against the white make an impact.

 

Playing with Backgrounds

 

I spent a little time playing with backgrounds recently.  I stamped, embossed and inked both cardstock and watercolor paper.  It is always fun to play with no particular end product in mind.

The orange and blue backgrounds were colored with Distress Oxide Ink.  I love the way the colors blend so well.

New Crochet Blanket

 

I am excited to have my second grandbaby on the way.  This, of course, means I need to get busy so this little one will have a soft blanket when he or she is born.  Since we do not know which one we are getting, I decided to use bright, cheery colors.  I am using Caron Simply Soft yarn in a granny square design.  I know that I want to make 6 squares and I couldn't really find the perfect pattern so I decided to make one up.  Once the blanket is complete, I will post the pattern.

I started with a simple circle that I squared up on rows 7-9.

 

I made the mistake of forging ahead without securing the tails.  I certainly know better, but sometimes it is hard to stop when you are on a roll.  I will definitely have to pay for this later.  I decided to complete all 6 squares as I go rather than waiting until one square was finished to start the second one. 

 

On row 10, I added a decorative surface row by using post stitches and trebles in previous rows.  I will continue to post as this project continues.

Caron Simply Soft colors used:

 Berry Blue

Soft Blue

Cool Green

Sage

Sunshine

Gold Ombre

Cobalt Blue