May 2013 PTI Blog Hop; MIM #117; Case Study #142

Happy, Happy Saturday to you!

This is a long Memorial Day holiday weekend in America.  I hope everyone enjoys the holiday, stays safe, and takes some time to remember the hard work and sacrifices of our service men and women.

 

We've got motorcycle riding (me) and card making (Mister) and a wedding (Sunday) and a lunch date with the kids (Monday), all under cool and comfortable temperatures and bright blue skies.  No complaints from here.  Of course I performed a sleight of type trick in those first parens just to see if you were paying attention.

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I'm playing in TWO PTI challenges today!  The first is Make It Monday #117 from the incredible Nichole Heady's "Capture The Moment" website.  The video and art work were made by the charming and talented Melissa Phillips on "paper piecing" wherein she paper-patched a flower.  She cut her blossom pieces out with scissors and I used a die for mine.

 

The second PTI challenge is today's May 2013 Papertrey Blog Hop, also on Nichole's site.  This month our challenge is to make a floral card based on six different photo inspirations of beautiful bouquets.  I chose the red oranges:

The truth is I chose the purple photo first.  I always lean towards the blues and lilacs and greens.  I pretty much hate oranges and melons.  Colors, I mean, not the fruits.  Why are ink and paper colors so often named after foods?  All it does is make me a hungry crafter.  (As one of my bloggie friends once said, "You say that like that's a bad thing!") 

 

So, anyway, there I was attempting my fifth card from inside my comfort zone and, uncharacteristically, I was very uncomfortable with the hot messes coming from up in there.

 

So I stepped out.  That's right.  Just got up and stepped over the line!  I thought of my beautiful DIL who adores orange, and I pulled out all the papers in my new PTI "Text-style in bloom" paper pack in clays and oranges and melons and I got to work.  I wouldn't say that Rachel has converted me to orange, but I'm no longer repulsed because of how great she makes it look in her home and on her person.

 

And, thirdly, yes, yippee, thirdly, I noticed the new Case Study May Muse photo inspiration was up.  It is another magnificent card by the beloved Maile Belles:

 

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Ready?  I stamped and die cut and pieced and made this:

I have to admit it is really lovely IRL and perhaps my DIL won't see this post, because if she does, she'll be looking at her birthday card, even though her birthday isn't until October.  It has her name written all over it and hopefully by October, she'll forget she ever saw it.

 

I do love the design of the card (thank you, Maile) and I will definitely be using this format again.  The execution is pretty self-explanatory.  CASEing Maile's card, I started by stamping the leaves and coloring them.  I die cut the blossom using the PTI "Frilly Flowers" die and glued the petals in place, curling the ends of some with my fingers.  I die cut the leaves (Sizzlets) and attached them with brads and I added the little dahlia embellie to the center.  I chomped the one corner to mimic the blossom petals and popped the whole shebang to the card base with pop dots.  The full list of ingredients is below my signature at the bottom of the post.

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I'm so pleased to introduce you today to three new friends who have joined us at the Playhouse!  Please join me in welcoming:

Anne J. Williams of Copper Beach Crafts
Karen Petitt of Stamping in Pink
Yolanda of A Moment of Time

Thank you so much for your support, ladies!  You have tons of inspiration on your beautiful sites to share with all of us!

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I thought I'd leave you today with this humorous picture of my hydrangea bushes.  I love hydrangeas, second to lilacs, and my bushes are called Nikko BLUE.  You can't fail to notice that the bush at the top did not get the memo, hence the humor!  In the prior two years I've had them, I've shared how they always start out pink, so I had to add pneumonia, or something like that, after which they magically turned blue.  Last year I must have overdosed the one that sprang forth in blue from the start this year!  I've decided to just let the pinky/ lavender one be.  I am loving the sorbet affect.  Ah, gee, I attach food descriptors to everything, too!!

 

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Enjoy your day!  No, seriously, enjoy.  LITS*! 

Thank you so much for stopping by the Playhouse and for all your comforting words yesterday over the loss of The Nest.  I really appreciated that.  Special thanks to you if you take the time to leave a comment or join as a follower!

*Life Is Too Short!

Paper:  PTI white, "Text-Style In Bloom"; SU! always artichoke
Stamps:  We R Memory Keepers "Botanicals"; SU! sediment
Ink:  PTI true black; Prismacolor pencils
Dies:  PTI "Frilly Flowers"; Sizzlits "Flowers, Branches & Leaves"
Flower Center:  SU! Dahlia
Corner Chomper and Pop Dots