Pickled Tink

I certainly haven't had much time to stamp lately. But I'm not complaining, because God has blessed us with a wonderful harvest this season and we've been able to put up a lot of food. My kitchen counters are full of pickles right now. We did 11 1/2 quarts of lime crisps, 4 pints of banana peppers, 21 1/2 pints of zucchini relish, and 20 quarts of zucchini pickles. In addition, I've made zucchini cake, zucchini bread, frozen grated zucchini for future cakes and breads, fried zucchini, and baked cheesy zucchini rounds. Plus, I have a recipe for zucchini soup but haven't made that yet. If anyone has a tried and true way to use zucchini, I'm open. :)

July Supplies Challenge

Today's weekly CCEE challenge is the supplies challenge (my favorite). Dawn sent us this beautiful designer paper...I love the colors. I used the daisy from 'Looks Like Spring', embossing three of them in white on colored card stock and cutting them out.

Recipe: stamps- sentiment (Stampabilities), flower (Looks Like Spring, SU); ink- always artichoke (SU), Versamark; paper- white, marigold morning (SU), yellow marbled, designer paper (heidi grace designs); accessories- white ep, sheer ribbon (Offray), white gel pen, 1/2 inch circle punch (flower centers).

Ice Cream and Cake

Often when making a card, I'll make two with the same supplies. When I did the ice cream card, I made a second base card with the Basic Grey designer paper. Although it isn't visible in the photo, the cake stand is colored with crystal Stickles.

Recipe: stamps- cake (PSX), sentiment (Upsy Daisy, SU); ink- black archival; paper- barely banana (SU), white, pink marbled, Basic Grey DP; accessories- crystal Stickles, scallop border punch (SU), dotted swiss Cuttlebug embossing folder, SU markers.

For Love of Lilyturf

Another favorite of mine...Lirope muscari, common name 'lilyturf'. I love it because it's foolproof. It does sun and shade, wet and dry, and always looks good. (Would that I could do the same). It grows in mounds, has beautiful foliage on it's own and gets a pretty purple flower in late summer. These pics are from last year. In the spring, shear back the dead foliage before new growth begins and divide if needed. The only thing to watch out for, is that there are two types of liriope. 'Muscari' is clumping and 'spicata' sends out runners and is invasive. Make sure you "choose wisely". And Susie...I was right, it is pronounced lir-ee-oh-pee (I looked it up). :)

My Little Visitor

You're going to have to click on the picture and enlarge it to see her...a female ruby throated hummingbird. They're so funny. I've seen four at one time so I know I have at least that many. They are all females and they will not share the feeder. Whoever is drinking at the time will chase everyone else away. There are four feeding portals, but will they share? No.....

Ah, Summer!

This week's CCEE challenge was to make a fun summer card. What's more fun than ice cream? This beautiful Basic Grey paper made me think of ice cream colors. The stamp is one of the $1 stamps from Michael's. It's a two scooper and I just stamp it several times and cut and paste the scoops. You can't see very well in the photo, but I crimped a little of the white panel.

Recipe: stamps- ice cream cone (katie & co.), snap stamps (karen foster); paper- barely banana (SU), white, pink and white marbled, Basic Grey dp; ink- black archival, SU markers; accessories- Cuttlebug embossing folder, crimper, scallop border punch (SU).

Sorry, More Flowers...

Note to self. I love this trailing silver grey Dichondra (Silver Falls). A definite keeper for containers. The purple flower is Torenia 'Purple Moon'.

Don't you just love Gerbera daisies? They're such a happy flower.

I have a new favorite flower (this, of course, changes from moment to moment)... Diascia 'Genta Pink' (also called twinspur). All this is from 3 starter plants. It has a mounding habit and has been covered with flowers since I bought it in early May. I'm anxious to see how it does throughout the rest of the season. I did learn one disappointing fact online this morning. I purchased it as a perennial, but for my zone it's considered a tender perennial and treated as an annual. However, it's definitely worth buying each year.