Thursday, April 28, 2016

CAE Spring Encouragement Card - Card Concept #54 & PCCCS #192 etc

When I started card-making I was a newlywed in Texas, longing for a garden of my own each spring as the glorious Texas wildflowers burst from every roadside.  I can still picture the fields of lupine.
I grow lupine in my garden now, and remember--even though I'm a thousand miles away and in a much better place physically, emotionally and spiritually.  But the lupine was one of the things that helped me to get through, one of many "tender mercies" from our time there.
.
Back then, without a garden (besides the few pots I could fit on our tiny porch), I crafted and colored flowers instead, to ease that botanical longing. 
Now that I have my own garden at last to pour my energy into for as many months out of the year as possible, I haven't spent nearly as much time as before on botanical art. 
But this year has been different. 
Because of my decreased mobility after the injury I am only barely getting by on the most necessary garden chores.  The boys are enthusiastic garden helpers and do all they can,
but the rest will have to wait until next spring.
Those fruit trees for the mini-orchard I'd planned, the front landscaping, the new vegetable crops to try and the canning garden, to put up as much as possible...all of that is on hold.
So once again, static art has had to fill in for the living, growing art outside.
 

Still, it's not all bad to be an observant bystander rather than the one with the grubby knees. 
Case in point:  Aren't these irises gorgeous? 
I'm afraid I cannot truly claim them; they are my neighbor's.
But I see them out my window each late-April morning and they are just too beautiful not to share...
or be inspired by. 

And speaking of inspiration, how about this from The Card Concept #54?
My take is somewhere between Clean & Layered and Freestyle Collage.

These colors coordinate perfectly with MFP #17 The Color Purple and the
 Catch the Bug color challenge for April as well:




So here are some views of my Clean-and...shall we say, Eclectic? take on this theme: 



Go easy on me over the sketch challenge spatters, girls.  I never have quite gotten the hang of controlled-yet-random-looking spatters. 
Usually I leave all projects in THAT department to the boys, who are--I can assure you--complete experts.  I know you'll understand.


I also decided to stray just a bit from the PCCCS sketch and switch the
sentiment and label/image area around.


  
Materials Used on this Card:
Cardstock {Papertrey Ink}
Patterned paper {Ninth Street by The Paper Studio}
Stamps {Sentiment tag - Stampabilities; Modern Leaf - Papertrey Ink}
Ink {Winter Wisteria, Simply Chartreuse, Ripe Avocado - Papertrey Ink}
Glimmer Mist Gold {Tattered Angels}
Glossy Accents Clear {Ranger}
Colored Pencil {Remind me to return it to the boys' art caddy before they wake up}
3D Dragonfly {K&Company}
Corner Rounder Punch {EK Success} 


Thank you so much for visiting!
Before you go, hop over to my quilting and gardening blog, Gardener's Thread, 
to enter for a Tula Pink book giveaway!
That giveaway will remain open until I finish my Spring-weaver quilt. 
 
I'll be hosting my craftroom SPRING CLEANING GIVEAWAY here
tomorrow morning (light is not so good for photographing tonight, I'm afraid)
so do check back.
 
Be well,
--Kathryn
 
 

17 comments:

  1. No one needs to go easy on you for this winning card, K! It is simply stunning! How I enjoyed this post and your writing ~ you had me at lupine! Thank you for finding me and following me. It is a pleasure to meet you and follow you back! I hope to see you again soon and wish you all the best with your recovery. Hugs, Darnell

    ReplyDelete
  2. OMGoodness, Kathryn, you've been busy! 5 posts in one day and all of them magnificent creations! Love the photo of the iris and your story about lupine and Texas. My garden is on hold this year, too, and I really miss it so I can truly empathize with you.

    ReplyDelete
  3. What a beautiful card, Kathryn! I love the mixture of elements and that butterfly is just stunning. Thanks for joining us at the Paper Craft Crew this week! xo Crystal

    ReplyDelete
  4. Such a lovely dragonfly Your card is very pretty TFS MFPSS>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Lis

    ReplyDelete
  5. So pretty, especially with that lovely dragonfly.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Great dragonfly! Very nice card! Thanks for playing along with us at MFP Stamps Challenge!
    Hugs,
    Pam
    MFPSC DT

    ReplyDelete
  7. Your card is amazing - I love the layout!
    Thanks for joining our Bugaboo Colour Challenge this week - good luck! Please join us again soon!
    Love
    Jen Leeflang
    BUGABOO DT

    ReplyDelete
  8. I love this. I love the sentiment and how you paid special attention to your dragonfly. I'm going to call it a dragonfly since I designed a tat that looks much like this for my shoulder blade. Just what you wanted to hear, huh? LOL. Thank you so very much for joining us at the Paper Craft Crew this week for our sketch challenge and we sure do hope to see you back for our next challenge!

    ReplyDelete
  9. What a fabulous card! Love the splatters, the dragonfly looks so real and a wonderful sentiment as well!! Thanks for playing along with us at The Card Concept :-)

    ReplyDelete
  10. Fantastic card! I love how you linked up with all the challenges, I can totally see the inspiration from ours, thanks for linking up with us at the Card Concept.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Kathryn... OK, I have to start by saying that I love your Irises. I planted Irises about 5 years ago the weekend my Grandma passed away and they just have not flowered as I had hoped. Irises were my Grandma's favorite flowers. Now about your card... AMAZING!!! You rocked the sketch. The splatters in the background create a gorgeous backdrop for the overall design. Love the dragonfly. Thanks for playing along with the Paper Craft Crew. ~Pam, DT

    ReplyDelete
  12. Wow! Gorgeous card! I really love it! That dragon fly is awesome!

    ReplyDelete
  13. I love the colours in your card, and that dragonfly is amazing! No worries about the splatters - they're perfect (as in, imperfectly perfect!). So glad that you've joined us this week for the Paper Craft Crew challenge! ~Deborah

    ReplyDelete
  14. Hi Kathryn, what an amazing card. I love the way you've combined the three challenges to achieve it. The dragonfly is the perfect finishing touch. Thanks so much for joining our Paper Craft Crew Challenge this week.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Wonderful card! Love that you used the Iris and flower colors for inspiration!

    ReplyDelete
  16. Beautiful and so trendy! I love it! Thank you for playing along with the Paper Craft Crew this week!

    ReplyDelete
  17. Stunning design!!! I am in love with this card!!!! Thanks for joining us at the Card Concept!!!

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for your comments -- they add an extra smile to my day. I hope yours is happy and bright as well, no matter where you are visiting from!

LinkWithin

Related Posts with Thumbnails