A Touch of Spring

If April showers bring May flowers, then there better be some truly spectacular blooms next month.  Normally I kind of like the rain.  But lately even I am getting sick of this drippy nonsense going on in Portland.  The ground is perpetually squishy, the gutters are a slimy mess, and my poor car is getting a little green scum in the nooks and crannies where the carwash can't reach. Ugh!

So, here's my temporary antidote - some lovely blooms.

These bright lilies remind me what will be showing up in my yard when the sun finally gets warm enough.  Something to look forward to.

Dylan and I are going to start planting our little garden in a week or two - strawberries and pumpkins, and some zinnias for color.

I love walking in the woods in the springtime and stumbling upon the pretty little irises hiding among the ferns.  They always look like fairy flowers to me.  Ever since I watched the first Tinkerbell movie, I can't help but imagine little sprites painting all the flowers when nobody is looking.

Hope you find a little magic in your day.  Thanks for stopping by.

Wheels

There are days when I am happy to just sit and sift through all of the cool little doodads that I've accumulated.  It fills my head with daydreams and memories.  It makes me crave period films and Louisa May Alcott books.

Inevitably, art ideas emerge and I have to stop dreaming and start designing. 

Who else out there stuck playing cards in the spokes of their bike wheels?  Yes, I'm old, but some things really were better way back when.  We used to raid our mom's wooden clothes pins and beg the jokers from the card pack.  And you had to get the alignment just right to get the perfect clickety clack sound.

I found some great metal buttons in a grab bag at our local antique store and decided to use them on a nice old fashioned guy card.  This one reminds me of leather furniture and silk ties.  Shiny black wing tips and pipe smoke.  I've always kind of liked the smell of pipe smoke. 

Speaking of tobacco...my mom and I had a chuckle on Sunday of "card weekend" because my fingers were so stained with brown dye that I looked like I'd been rolling my own smokes!

Well, that's it for today.  Hope all is well in your world.  I'll be back later with a touch of spring...

First Art Show of the Year for Dylanbug!

Save the date!  Come on out and have some fun, say hello, and enjoy the local artists.  It's a great neighborhood with lots to do.

See you there!
Pam

Cupcake Inspiration Challenge #70

Hey everyone!  It's another Sunday, and another Cupcake Inspiration Challenge.  Perfect timing too.

Tinkerbell cuppies!  And...a birthday for our neighbors' daughter who is turning 8 on Friday.

So, since Kate loves all things girlie - including fairies, mermaids and butterflies, this was serendipitous.

I decorated this cute little wooden gift "bag" with sprites on all sides.  And made a card to match.  Kate's pretty sophisticated for her age, so I didn't want to do the whole Disney thing for her. 

Besides, I like to believe that there are little sprites and magical creatures in the plants and trees.  Lord knows none of mine are staying alive due to my ministrations.  The nature fairy images appealed to me and just seemed to work so well.

I'll let you know how these go over with the birthday girl.

Thanks for visiting!

Hip Happening, August 7th!

Dylanbug will have some awesome new treats, come check them out!

Baby Shower

Wedding

Birthday

Friendship

Just Because

Gifts, Gifts, Gifts!

Flights of Fancy

Have I said before how difficult I find it to make things for guys?  We'll I decided to make a true effort.  I picked up some papers with compass designs ages ago, and just hadn't found the right elements to really grab me.

Then I found some hot air balloon images, and it all clicked.  What really did it was finding canvas that you can print on with an inkjet printer.  Office Depot, who knew?  Although it says to print on the bright white side, I opted to ignore that and try printing on the more natural uncoated side.  Guess what?  It worked just great and had more of the vintagy look that I was hoping for.

I'm really proud of how these came together.  Gives me a little more confidence in approaching the less frilly side of what I do :)

Thanks for stopping by.  I'll try not to be so far between posts in the coming days.

Cupcake Inspiration Challenge #69

Hello after a month.  A MONTH!  How time flies when I'm madly making inventory for craft shows, gifts, etc.

I skated in by the skin of my teeth for this week's Cupcake Inspiration Challenge.

This was so simple and perfect that I really didn't deviate from the cake at all.  Just put some of my favorite materials to good use.

Don't you just love the flower?  I am having a great time with the new Tim Holtz Tattered Florals dies, and with grunge board.  The board is soft enough to emboss, but sturdy enough to take paint without wrinkling.

The Tim Holtz Shabby Vintage paper stack is also so cool that you don't need to do anything to it.  I just stamped the stem and sentiment from my The Simple Things set and I was done.

Hope you're loving the sunshine as much as I am.  Enjoy!