Butterflies and Ink Blending

 

I played around with ink blending recently. I started with watercolor paper and Catherine Pooler inks stamped directly onto a big acrylic block. Next, I used chunks of crumpled up plastic grocery bags, smooshed them into the ink on the block, and then smooshed them onto the paper. After smooshing, I sprayed a light mist of water over the whole panel (CP inks are water reactive). When this was dry, I stamped on top using this old classic Wildflowers stamp set from Papertrey Ink.

I flicked a little coppery watercolor over the whole thing, then added the butterfly.

I like how this one turned out. Simple, but elegant.

The butterflies have been really active, finally! Last year was not a great year for butterfly visitors, but I'm seeing a lot more this season.

 

I've had swallowtails and monarchs, too. Beautiful! They really love the butterfly bush, whereas the bees seem to prefer the coneflower.

I find myself adding butterflies to a lot of my cards lately. It must be the season.

Blessings!

The Frog Lady

 

It started with the frog statues that I inherited from my step Mom-in-law's garden a few years ago. Shirley Ann had a LOT of frogs that needed homes after she moved into assisted living. I took a few, and gave a few to my son, John for his garden, too.

And then I decided to add the frog garden flag and doormat. And maybe a few new frog statues, too.

Overnight, I became the frog lady. How do these things happen? Slowly. One frog at a time.

My son, John, found these new froggy items at Hobby Lobby and knew I'd have to have them.

So cute! (Hi, Jemma!)

But wait, there's more!

John has taken up stained glass, a new hobby he's trying with his new lady friend. He made this one for me:

I love it! It reminds me of the Frog and Toad Together books.

I'm calling him St. Frog, the patron saint of lawn mowing.

I haven't seen the tree frog that normally visits my garden every year. Maybe I've scared him away with all the BIG frogs. I hope not.

Do you have an animal that seems to make it into your collection?

Two Orange Marigolds

 

I've been moving things around in the garden this week.

The zinnia seeds that I planted in the butterfly garden were not growing well. I think the purple coneflower grew too fast and blocked out the sunlight that the seeds needed. So I transplanted the scrawny seedlings over to the small vegetable patch, where they will get more sun.

I also picked up a few more varieties of those yellow daisies I love, along with some pink Monarda "Bee Balm" and a few yellow coneflowers. I'm trying to repeat some flower patterns in the front, joining the butterfly garden to the front foundational garden.

The frequent rains and subsequent humidity have kept the garden really lush.

I've been growing flowers in my craft room, too...of the stamps and ink and paper variety!

{Today's Brew: SU Marigold Moments, SU Honey Bee stamp and die,  C and 9th Basket Weave card front die}

{Today's Brew: SU Marigold Moments, SU Honey Bee, Mama Elephant banner dies, honeycomb embossing folder, sequins}

It's August now, the last hurrah of summer. Is it too soon to think about pumpkin-colored flowers?

31 Days of Walks

 

I did it!

31 days of walks for the American Cancer Society! Thanks to all of my supporters, we were able to raise over $300. Yay!

Every day, I tried to get out first thing in the morning for a 2 mile walk in the neighborhood. I saw some really wonderful things on my walks during the month of July.

Turtles and turkeys, snakes and butterflies, deer and dogs. 

I walked for the teal ribbon, in memory of my sister, Tina, who died of ovarian cancer in 2021. Strength and Hope. Thank you, American Cancer Society, for offering both.

It is now August, and the walk is officially over. But I think I will still get outside and see what the world has to show me this morning.

Blessings on your Friday, café friends!

Aldi AOS Find

 

Have you ever heard of ALDI AOS? It's a Facebook group of dedicated Aldi shoppers. And what does AOS stand for? Aisle of Shame. It's that center aisle in Aldi that is constantly refreshed with new seasonal items...you know, those things that are NOT on your shopping list, but when you see them, you want them and have to have them. Thus, the shame. lol!

When an AOS shopper finds that elusive item that everyone wants, they are supposed to let out a "Caw! Caw!" in celebration. Too funny!

Well, sometimes I will see an item in an ad, and if my stores do not have it, I will ask my sons to look for it in Indiana.

Last month, Luke called me on his way home from work, just before popping in to an Aldi.

"Hey, will you look for this bird bath for me when you are there?"

And guess what? He found it!

I think this ceramic bird bath (which clamps onto the deck rail) was $8.

And look at how sweet it is! Two little birds perched on the edge. And it matches my deck and patio furniture perfectly.

Caw! Caw!

Two Pink Marigolds

 

We had a gusher of a thunderstorm yesterday afternoon. Over two inches of rain! Jemma was not happy with the noise, so we went down to the craft room, turned on a podcast, and did some crafting.

I pulled out the stamp set Marigold Moments from Stampin' Up, and was happy to see that I had stored a bunch of pre-stamped images and die cuts in the sleeve. Hooray!

I also found these frame dies in a pile on my craft table.

The only thing I had to add was the sentiment and a few stamped bees from SU.

I like how SU offers two options in most of their die cut sets. One option allows you to stamp first, die cut after. The other option allows you to create by simply layering die cuts.

Celebrating every moment...even the scary thunderstorm moments.

Highlights from Indy

 

We had a fun trip to Indy last weekend, visiting of our favorite areas. First, we stopped in Noblesville. Of course, I had to make a quick stop in to Always in Stitches!

Love Stacy Nash's designs...and she lives not far from Noblesville, too!

Lori Holt/Bee in My Bonnet has some really lovely new cotton yarns for punch needle.

Saw these fun Paint by Numbers kits!

We met the family for dinner in Broad Ripple, and took a walk along the canal.

I was able to visit two Half Price Books stores, and got some great deals on titles that were on my "To Be Read" list. I also got to stop in here...so fun!

We had ice cream in Zionsville at the Scoop!

Indy is constantly evolving. There's so much growth happening there, with houses and shopping and restaurants. It's hard to keep up with all the changes. I know it's becoming a very desirable place to move to with a low cost of living. But wow, the road construction and traffic! It currently feels like a young person's town, with a lot of energy. It's fun to visit, but I'm always happy to get back to my small town, too.

Time to face Monday and my To Do list!

Blessings on your week ahead!