High Hopes Challenge #28

Diva Amy has asked us to "think outside the card" for this week's challenge and I wanted to make something I have never tried before. I decided to do a twist on a garden journal by using a lunch box tin instead of an album. As spring is upon us, it is now time for hubby and I to start our annual vegetable garden. This year will mark number 5 for us planting our garden and we're both looking forward to getting out into the fresh air and sunshine.

My plan for the tin is to store by year--the photos I have taken, a blueprint of what I have planted, and a card telling when and what we planted, what kind of yeild we had and what our favourite things were about the planting year. I always think I am going to remember these things from year to year but as they say "a short pencil is better than a long memory."



Here's my tin...

I used a new stamp from the High Hopes April release called "Sweet Dreams". I stamped the image on Strathmore Smooth Bristol 100 lb. paper--which is my favourite paper to use and is quite reasonable to purchase. I used Prismacolor Pencils and mineral spirits to colour the image. The tin is from Provo craft, the ribbons from Michael's, the flowers from Prima and the brad is from my stash. The patterned paper is Providence Greene Street from Scenic Route. My cardstock is Bazzil Swiss Dot.

Thanks for stopping by to take a look! Have a blessed day!

Sarah

The Zilla Sisters

Happy 1/2 Birthday to Yuki & Willow!

My fur babies are growing up fast! Yuki (Yoo-Key--which is Japanese for snow) and Willow (because she's soft and grey like a pussy willow) are my rescued kitties. We got them at 10 weeks old and now they are 6 months old today. What a blessing they have added to our home! We weren't sure how we would adjust to them after having lost our previous kitty last November after having her for 19+ years. It was like losing a family member. Inspite of it these two little blessings began to fill the hole and they have made themselves at home.

They are affectionately known as the Zilla Sisters a.k.a the Zillas (Yuki Zilla & Willow Zilla) because of their kamikaze like attacks that sometimes seem to come out of nowhere. They provide comic relief many times a day and although they can be very mischievous at times I know as they settle down with maturity I am going to miss their kitten ways.


Here are some photos of my babies!

Coming home at 10 Weeks...

My little drain stopper...

Looking out the patio window--or cat T.V. as we call it...

Did someone say Tuna???



La, la, la, la, la....


Sisters...


Nah, nah, boo, boo!


Wrestle-Mania Kitty Style...

Thanks for taking a look! I highly recommend felines if you're looking for a constant source of entertainment and endorphin release!

Blessings,

Sarah

High Hopes Challenge #27

Good Morning Everyone!! Hope you all had a great weekend! The weather here in southern Ontario was just beautiful and my family and I were fortunate enough to enjoy a riverbank picnic yesterday! In a few weeks the Canada Geese will have little goslings in tow--a sure sign of spring and fuzzy little reminders that all life is precious. Seeing these little creatures is one of my favourite things about spring!

This week's High Hopes challenge is from Kimmie and she has called upon us to distress our cards...so here is mine...




I used two High Hopes stamps for the image. I stamped Monkey Mike first and then masked him and overlaid the Branch stamp to make it look like he was perched up there. The sentiment is also a High Hopes stamp.


I coloured him using the following markers--Letra Set-Lime Green, Primacolor 12-Light Peach, 70-Sand, 71-Buff, & 95-Light Tan, and Copic-YG25--Yellow Green.

The patterned paper is from Bella BLVD called Family Circle. I stamped the images using black Memento ink onto Canson 150 lb paper. All cardstock in Bazzil Paper.


I distressed the edges of both my patterned paper and my Canson paper with my Heidi Swapp Distressing Tool and then chalked the edges of my image with Burnt Sienna Fluid Chalk from Color Box.


The flower die cuts are made with Quickutz dies. I took three pieces of twine from my stash and knotted them at even increments and added the finished product for a little texture--maybe Monkey Mike will take the fast way down (lol). The brads are also from my stash.

Here's the inside...

The sentiment on the inside is called "Precious Friend" and it's part of the Kolette Hall collection you can find at Michael's.

Below is also a card I made on the weekend using Elmer Elephant from High Hopes Stamps. I used Wisteria Fluid Chalk from Color Box to distress the edges of the green cardstock. The sentiment is also from High Hopes and is stamped with Wisteria as well. The flowers are from Prima & the "Love" brad and crystals are from the dollar store. I used markers from Prismacolor 101--Warm Grey 30% and Copic WG4--Warm Grey to colour Elmer. The patterned paper is a mystery and all cardstock is Bazzil. I used my Cuttlebug to cut out a scalloped mat for my image.

Here's the inside...the sentiment is "You are Kind" from Penny Black.




Thanks for looking and have a blessed day!

Sarah

High Hopes Challenge #26

Hi Everyone!

Hope you all had a great Easter holiday! I did...just a lot of lazing around and resting. Well it's challenge time again and Crissy gave us a good one this week! The challenge was to use paper piercing in your card layout. Here's mine...

I used Walkabout Wally and his mate Sheila and the leaves are also High Hopes. I'm sorry I have a bad habit of trimming the labels off my designer paper so I can't recall where the paper is from but I have had it for a long time. The same goes for the "Adventure" metal embellishment.

I coloured the images with a combination of different markers. They are as follows:

Prismacolor:

#12--Light Peach, #23--Cream, #71--Buff, #95--Light Tan, #101--Warm Grey 30%, #132-- Jasmine, #133--Deco Pink, #134--Deco Blue, & #197--Green Tea

Copic:

YG25--Celadon Green, E37--Sepia

Touch:

#21--Terra Cotta, WG4--Warm Grey

My cardstock is Bazzil and I used Canson 150lb paper for the stamped image. My ink is Versa Fine--Onyx Black.

This is what the inside of my card looks like. The sentiment is Penny Black's "...your life..." I used my Cuttlebug to crop around the sentiment and embossed the edges.

Thanks for stopping by to take a look at my card. Have a great day!


Blessings,

Sarah

High Hopes Challenge #25

Hello Everyone! Here is my latest creation for High Hopes Challenge #25! I love these challenges and this week Jeanne of the High Hopes Divas came up with a great sketch! I have been wanting to use the Francis Owl stamp from High Hopes for some time now and this challenge gave me the perfect opportunity to use a smaller stamp.

I coloured the owl image with copic markers and then added icicle stickles to the flowers to brighten them up. I cut the image out using my nesties, embossed the circle, and then chalked around the image with a light tan colour. The "Who" stamp is from the Cornish Heritage Farms stamp set "U R A Hoot". I stamped 3 of these images with SU Close to Cocoa ink and then chalked them completely to match the chalking around the owl. I then added one of them to a smaller matted circle I had cut out and applied 4 orange flower brads with small brown pearls for centres. I then applied the images to a mat of DP from Francis Meyer called "Autumn Wheat". I added the 2 remaining "Who" images and larger brown pearls to the space around the images and then applied the whole thing to brown cardstock. The cardstock used in this project is from Bazzill Papers. I found the brown pearls at my local dollar store.

I hope you enjoy my card and I want to wish everyone a very Happy Easter. May God bless you with rest and quality time spent with friends and family!

Blessings,

Sarah