Apr 10, 2009 | Dream a Little, Stamps, Wildlife |
I received this card as a swap at the Leadership Conference from Christina Crawford. I wanted to share this card today because of the Hummingbird. I was on my porch today and saw the first hummingbird of the season. The feeder was put out right before we went out of town and it is right by my kitchen window so we get to watch them with a pretty good view. I didn’t get a picture today, but here is one from last year.
It is a Ruby-Throated Hummingbird. This is the smallest bird in Georgia and it can fly backwards! I hope to get some good pictures this year.
Here is the supply list for Christina’s card:
- Dream a Little (Level 3 Hostess set)
- Basic Brown classic ink
- card stock: Close to Cocoa, Baja Breeze, Riding Hood Red, Kiwi Kiss and Whisper White
- Trio Flower Punch
- Rich Regals brads
- Crafter’s Tool Kit
Well back to cleaning the house and getting ready for Easter Sunday and all our family coming in for lunch. I think my final head count was 37. And I finished making 15 Easter Bunny boxes. I took a picture but didn’t download it yet – I’ll plan to do that for tomorrow.
If you live near me and want to come to my next class it is on April 17th at 10:00 am and again at 7:00 pm. The details are on my Stampin’ Up! website – www.monika.stampinup.net – and I sent out and email reminder to those that are on my email list. We are making two projects – one is a box with cards envelopes, a matching beaded pen and a bookmark and the other is a note card packet with three scalloped note cards and envelopes. If you would like to come please RSVP by the 15th.
Have a great rest of the day!
Apr 9, 2009 | Wildlife |
Not an Easter Egg Hunt, but just a check of all my bird nests since I have been gone for several days. This morning I took a trip around the yard to check on them all. Mrs. Robin is still sitting on her nest. I did get to see Mr. Robin egg sit for a few minutes while mom went to get some food. The robins normally always eat off the ground and never go to the bird feeders themselves – they often eat off of the ground underneath. Today one of them was eating from the suet block on my feeder pole.
Next a check of the bluebird nest. Still 5 eggs just like the last time I checked so she is done. Here is a photo of a bluebird at my mom’s house in her Dogwood Tree. 
Next a check of the chickadee nest. I knocked and noone flew out – I opened the side of the house and there was mom sitting inside. She promptly flew out. So I decided to look further to see how many eggs I could see. I had to look through the top of the house since they are tucked in the corner. I could see 5 eggs. The chickadees normally have 5-7 and there could have been another one or two that I couldn’t see. So all seems well at the chickadee household.
Next a peek out front at the Towhee. Mom was sitting quiet and still on her nest. She did not fly out so I couldn’t get a check of her eggs. She is well hidden in the bush and I’m glad to see her there. I’m still worried that a cat will find her.
I had many other birds around the yard this morning. Including the Cedar Waxwing’s again. Still eating the pink flowers on the pom-pom tree. I was 
able to get a great picture of a female Red-Bellied Woodpecker trying to get peanuts from the peanut feeder. In this picture you can see the red on her belly! The male has a red crown where she has gray. And look at how she uses her tail for balancing herself on the bottom of the feeder.
I am loading some pictures of a scrapbook page from my scrapbook class last month. And will post those later today.
Have a great day!
Apr 4, 2009 | Wildlife |
A flock of Cedar Waxwing’s stopped by today. They came in a big flock. Here is part of the group getting water from the bird bath. 
And one by himself getting water from the fountain by my kitchen window.
I think I have only seen them come once or twice before. They seem to just be flying through and don’t stay here very long. I think they like my pink pom-pom tree (I can’t remember the real name). They are hard to see because they blend in with the tree. But they seem to like the pink flowers on the tree. There are two of them in this picture in the tree.
The Cedar Waxwing is a very sleek-looking bird. The tip of their tail is bright yellow and the tips of the wings look like the have been dipped in red.
Updates on the other birds. The blue bird laid a 5th egg today and that should be the last one. I’ll check tomorrow for sure.
I wasn’t sure about the chickadee because this morning a pair of the Tufted Titmice stopped by their house and even went inside. But when I checked a few hours later the chickadee was inside sitting – so she must be done laying eggs now.
The weather was nice today and the boys were cutting grass and working in the yard so the robin seemed to be away from her nest more than what she normally is.
The Towhee was back on her nest. I checked the egg count again when she flew out – and today – 4 eggs again! Now it seems to be two smaller eggs instead of just one. Not sure what is going on with that.
I’m working on a stamping post – I’ll have it out in a little while. We had family over for dinner and they all just left.
Apr 2, 2009 | Petal Pizzaz, Stamps, Wildlife |
I was so excited this morning to see one of my cards on Stamper’s Showcase!
Stamper’s Showcase is a great resource for Stampin’ Up! demonstrators on the demonstrator website from Stampin’ Up! Every day Stampin’ Up! posts ideas from demonstrators like me. These are contest entries or swaps from Stampin’ Up! events.
I always hope that one day one of my cards will show up on there and finally I made it!
This was one of my swap cards that I made for the Leadership Conference in Orlando. The colors made me think of Florida. The idea came from a card I saw in a magazine and I adapted it to use all Stampin’ Up! products.
Here are the details:
Supplies:
- Petal Pizzazz Stamp Set
- Jumbo Outline Alphabet Stamp Set
- Kraft card stock: 5-1/2″ x 8-1/2″
- Tangerine Tango card stock: 5-1/4″ x 4″
- Kiwi Kiss card stock: 4″ x 1/4″
- Whisper White card stock: 5-1/2″ x 4-1/4″
- Tangerine Tango Designer Series paper Patterns: 4″ x 1/2″
- Versa Marker
- Tangerine Tango classic ink
- Kiwi Kiss classic ink
- Stampin’ Dimensionals
- 3/16″ corner rounder punch
Instructions:
- Fold Kraft card stock in half to form card base. Corner round all four corners.
- Adhere Kiwi Kiss strip to Tangerine Tango card stock.
- Adhere Tangerine Tango Designer paper strip to Tangerine Tango card stock.
- Corner round all four corners of the Tangerine Tango card stock.
- Adhere to the front of the Kraft card.
- Stamp flower from Petal Pizzaz stamp set in Tangerine Tango ink on Whisper White card stock. Stamp four leaves and stem from Petal Pizzaz stamp set in Kiwi Kiss ink on Whisper White card stock. Cut out all pieces with Paper snips. I prefer to leave a little bit of white showing around my image.
- Adhere stem to the front of the Tangerine Tango card stock. Stamp ‘HI’ with the Jumbo Outline Alphabet set. Color in the letters with a VersaMarker.
- Adhere the flower to the end of the stem with a Stampin’ Dimensional.
- Adhere leaves tucked under the flower. I put two flat with Snail and two raised on dimensionals.
This is a happy card so have a happy day!
Bird update for today – the bluebird nest – three eggs this morning. The chickadee nest – I can just barely see one egg tucked down in a corner – there could be more in there. The robin is spending alot more time sitting on her nest so she may be done laying her eggs. The Towhee seems to be on her nest most of the day incubating her eggs. Since I’m not sure how long it had been since she layed the third egg I’ll have to guess at how many days it will be until they hatch. Incubation is between 12-13 days. I found the nest on the 30th – so counting days by the end of next week they should start hatching. I’ll let you know next week when it happens.
UPDATE: I just peeked in on the Towhee and she flew out of the nest so I checked on the eggs – guess what there is a fourth egg in there! It is smaller than the other 3 – a runt egg – so it may not hatch. So she wasn’t actually done laying her eggs until later – maybe yesterday because I thought I checked two days in a row and both times there were 3 eggs. It might be after Easter before they hatch…
Thanks for visiting today!
Apr 1, 2009 | family, Wildlife |
My dogs, Aspen and Magnolia, do not like the rain. They do not like to be wet or cold. They are 
very spoiled. I even sometim
es carry them outside with an umbrella when it is raining since they won’t go out there otherwise. So today – is another rainy day and when there is rain, some where there is mud. You would think that my dogs would not enjoy the mud – but that is not the case – mud apparently is fun and not the same as being wet. I would beg to differ but then again I am not a dog. So after being outside (alone) for about 5 minutes Magnolia ran in the house looking like this. She looks like she wa
s rolling in the dirt and mud!
So I had to give her a bath which she really does not like.
Some how Aspen did not get muddy – so I don’t know where Magnolia was that he missed it.
She could not wait to get out of the tub. I dried her with a towel and then she runs full speed all over the house. They always do that after they get wet – they are little crazy dogs after they have gotten wet – do maybe it is good that they don’t enjoy going out in the rain.
And here she is all clean – 
Since I’m talking about family (yes the dogs are family) I may as well tell you that today is a big day – atleast I think it is – Kyle is registering for his college classes today when he gets home from school. He was accepted into the Joint Enrollment Program at Kennesaw State University so he will spend his senior year of high school in college. He choose to take a full schedule at Kennesaw and will not have any classes at the high school. He will earn both high school and college credit at the same time. The hope would be that once he enters college he will have completed most if not all of his freshman courses. I think this is very exciting for him – after today he will be officially registered and have a schedule for the fall semester. I can’t believe I’m old enough to have a college student!
And a brief update on the birds outside. I checked the bluebird house twice this morning at 8:0
0 am there was only 1 egg and later at around 11:00 am there were two! The bluebirds have been in and out of the box today. I was able to get a picture yesterday of the mama robin sitting on her nest – I tool this one from the window in Tyler’s room – it is above where the nest is located – she has been in and out of the nest today.
Here is a website with a live “Nestcam” of a bluebird house in Texas. They are a few days ahead of mine in the egg count – theirs had 5 yesterday. Click Here.
I’ll post more stamping stuff later today.
Mar 31, 2009 | Flower for All Seasons, Stamps, Wildlife |
A Flower for All Seasons is one of my favorite sets. This card was one that I made for a class last O
ctober – the All Occasions Emergency Card Kit class – and this was the “Spring” card. The basket of tulips reminds me of Spring and Easter and that happened to be on my mind today too. I was out buying plates and napkins for Easter lunch – we have lots of family and friends coming over.
This is really an easy card – the hardest part is coloring in the picture. I used Stampin’ Write Markers for this one, but you could use a variety of mediums to color in this image. The Designer Paper is now retired but the Tea Party Designer paper would be pretty – just adjust the colors to match – or even the Flock Together Designer paper.
Before I give you the details on the card here is an update on the birds – I checked the Bluebird house this morning – and ONE blue egg is in there! They lay one egg a day – so I’ll check tomorrow for #2. I checked the chick-a-dee house and realized I could lift the top of the house and not just the side (and stand on my tip-toe to peek in). Surprise Mama bird was sitting in there – oops, sorry, I shut the house. Now I always knock before I open the house – yes, really I do – that way the birds can fly out before I open it. Well she didn’t so either she has already laid all those eggs or was in the middle of laying and egg. I checked back a few hours later and she wasn’t in the house and I couldn’t see any eggs – but maybe she buried them in the nest since it was all flat. I’ll have to check again tomorrow to see what it in there. I found a website with live video inside a bluebird nest box – I’ll add a link for that later – they seem to be a few days ahead of mine – they already have 4 eggs in the nest.
Here are the details on the card:
Supplies:
Old Olive card stock: 4-1/4″ x 1″
Regal Rose card stock: 2″ x 2″
Georgia Peach Designer Series Paper: 2″ x 5-1/2″
Whisper White card stock
1-3/8″ square punch
Basic Black ink
Stampin’ Write Markers: So Saffron, Old Olive, Creamy Carmenl, Regal Rose, Pretty in Pink
Medium Whisper White Envelope
Stampin’ Dimensionals
Instructions:
1. Score card base in half at 5-1/2″.
2. Attach strip of Georgia Peach Designer paper toward the left side of the card front.
3. Stamp image in Basic Black ink on Whisper White card stock.
4. Color with Stampin’ Write Markers. Punch out with 1-3/8″ square punch.
5. Adhere Whisper White piece to the center of the Regal Rose piece.
6. Adhere the Regal Rose piece to the front of the card with dimensionals.
7. Decorate the envelope to match.
Have a great day!
