Breakfast in Bed

Both my husband and I have been feeling 'under the weather' lately.  First, he had the nasty summer cold thing going on and then he gave it to me - thanks honey!

I thought we could use a little breakfast in bed and some time with each other  :-)

Simple croissants and fresh fruit to nosh.

Who doesn't love a Mimosa once in a while!

Ahhh ... the scent of freshly brewed coffee.

When was the last time you had breakfast in bed?

Enjoy your weekend everyone!  Thanks for stopping by.

Happy Birthday!

My sweet kitty Cheops turned 11 years old today.

 

Happy Birthday!

Dreaming of Cleome ...

Today I would like to share with you a cleome flower.  These flowers are planted in my gazebo garden and it wasn't until I picked this one to photograph that my husband even knew they were there.  Oh my, does he need glasses or what?  How can you miss these beauties!

Did you know there is a heartbreaking legend about the cleome?  It's said there once was a butterfly that was searching for love.  One day he came upon another beautiful butterfly and it was love at first site.  The butterfly soon realized his love remained perfectly still on top of a flower.  His beloved never moved - not even an inch.  Even so he continued to woo his love day and night, while life slowly slipped away from him.  The butterfly eventually ran out of strength and fell to the ground.  Meanwhile his love's wings fluttered in the wind.  Although his beloved looked like another butterfly, it turns out it was in fact a flower.  A cleome that simply stood there with its petals swaying in the breeze ...

This heirloom plant was once a special favorite of Thomas Jefferson.  If you have ever been to visit Monticello in Virginia you will see them in his gardens.  I actually had the pleasure of viewing them.

I hope you enjoy viewing my garden flowers from a different perspective.  I added a Cream Bokeh Swirls Texture to this photo.  The flower name is a font entitled Wingsong.

This week I am joining ...

Macro Monday @ Lisa's Chaos
Bloomin' Tuesday @ Ms. Green Thumb Jean
Garden Tuesday @ Sidewalk Shoes
Cottage Garden Party @ Fishtail Cottage
Home & Garden Thursday @ Delightsome Life
Thursday Favorite Things @ Katherine's Corner
Open House Friday @ Bernideen's Tea Time
Fertilizer Friday @ Tootsie Time
Flower Art Friday @ Photos by LeAnne
Floral Friday Fotos @ Floral Friday  

French Violets

The violets have been holding their place in the garden.

I can never resist picking a few to bring indoors.

On top of a vintage altered book is the perfect place to display them.

Painted in cottage white and adorned with a French decoupage.

"Each violet peeps from its dwelling to gaze at the bright stars above."

~ Heinrich Heine ~

Today I am joining ...

Friendship Friday @ Create With Joy
Open House Party @ Bernideen's Tea Time
Show Off Friday @ What About
Vintage Inspiration Friday @ Common Ground

Shabby Chic Cake

I have a birthday card for you today.  I relied on a digital image by Arina Atelier to pull this one together.  I also used papers from Melissa Frances and the Iralamija Shop.

A piece of Soft Sky paper was cut using a Spellbinders Decorative Label Eight die.  I adhered the Shabby Chic cake image to it and mounted everything to a piece of Melissa Frances' Essie paper.  Happy Birthday was stamped in Chocolate Chip and embossed with clear embossing powder with a heat gun.  It was punched out using the Word Window punch.

The banner was created by layering Spellbinders Nested Pennants with Nested Lacey Pennants.  A couple of cream buttons from my stash give it a vintage look.  A clear Spica pen adds sparkle to the cake frosting and roses.

 

The inside sentiment was stamped in Chocolate Chip and embossed with clear embossing powder.  I layered Spellbinders Scalloped Ovals and Classic Ovals then added the #50 for her milestone birthday.  The ovals were then mounted to an Action Wobble Spring.  These springs are so cool and when she opened the card the number just popped out at her and wobbled!

 

Thanks for stopping by.  Wishing you a sweet day!

Card Recipe:
Stamps:  Create a Cupcake, Crazy for Cupcakes, Brushstroke Alphabet Numbers
Paper:  Natural Linen White, Soft Sky, Melissa Frances 5th Avenue Collection Essie paper, Very Vanilla, Shabby Chic Cakes by Arina Atelier, French Notes by Iralamija Shop
Ink:  Chocolate Chip with Clear EP
Accessories:  Action Wobble Spring, Cream Buttons, Linen Thread, Clear Spica Pen, Spellbinders Decorative Labels Eight, Nested Lacey Pennants, Nested Pennants, Small Classic Scalloped Ovals #3, Small Classic Ovals #3, Large Classic Ovals #2  
Techniques:  Embossing, Sponging
Card Size:  A2 (4.25" x 5.5")

Late Spring Pinks & Purples

Hi everyone,

I hope you had a nice weekend.  I was able to spend most of Sunday in the garden and then we had a cookout.  The gardens are bursting with color.  Are you ready for a stroll?  I hope you like pinks and purples!

Ahhh, here we have some allium.  'Gladiator' is the first with its lavender blue florets.

Who would have thought onions could be so beautiful!

'Cristophii' with its silvery amethyst flowers seem too big to be real.

Irises are abundant in so many different shades of purple.

Pansies can always be found popping up.

The 'Bridal Wreath' Spirea is cascading with tiny white flowers.

Oh look, we have a friend who would like to join us!

Last year I added a few more hostas to the shade garden.  The ferns are doing fantastic with all the rain we have had.

Salvia 'May Night' with its purple spikes

Shall we take a walk over to the pond?

The Geranium 'New Hampshire Purple' has really spread and is so dependable.

Thank you for strolling with me today.  Soon the rain will stop and the sun will be shining brightly.

Today I am joining ...

Bloomin' Tuesday @ Ms. Green Thumb Jean

Garden Tuesday @ Sidewalk Shoes

Outdoor Wednesday @ A Southern Daydreamer

Nature in the Home @ Little Green Shed

Cottage Garden Party @ Fishtail Cottage

Fertilizer Friday @ Tootsie Time

Floral Friday Fotos @ Floral Friday

Open House Friday @ Bernideen's Tea Time

Weekend Flowers @ Tina's PicStory

Lakeside Cabin for Michael

Quite a while back I created a Stampscapes card for a friend and my husband loved it.  I thought I would make him one, but change a few elements.  I can't decide if I like the portrait or landscape design better.  You can view my previous card here.

On a piece of glossy paper I stamped the Lakeside Cabin and Ledge in StazOn Stone Gray.  Next, I masked off the rocks and around the cabin and stamped the trees in StazOn Olive Green.  With a cotton swab, I added some Old Olive and Always Artichoke to the trees for some color variation.  The reeds were stamped in StazOn Black to create depth.

The water and sky were sponged in Bordering Blue, Baja Breeze, Marina Mist, Adirondack Denim and Night of Navy (leaving some portions white).  Rocks were colored with Basic Gray and Distress Black Soot.  The cabin was done in Chocolate Chip and Early Espresso.  A So Saffron marker was used for the windows.

I applied ColorBox Frost White to the rocks and a little to the water.  After letting everything dry I stamped the water pattern in Bordering Blue (stamping off once on scrap paper first), then applied Sky Blue Shimmerz Paint.  You can never really see the shimmer in the photo.  The scene was adhered to a piece of Shimmery White and then mounted to a denim card.

 

 

I hope you are having a terrific day.  I'm so glad the week is half over - Whoo hoo!!!

Card Recipe:
Stamps:  Stampscapes Lakeside Cabin, Ledge, Pine & Rocks Small, Pine Row, Reeds Large, Water Pattern Small
Paper:  Denim, Shimmery White, Glossy White
Ink:  Lakeside Cabin & Ledge - StazOn Stone Gray; Pine & Rocks and Pine Row - StazOn Olive Green; Reeds - StazOn Black; Water & Sky - Sponged in Bordering Blue, Baja Breeze, Marina Mist, Adirondack Denim, Night of Navy; Water Pattern - Bordering Blue; Trees - Old Olive & Always Artichoke; Rocks - Basic Gray and Distress Black Soot; Cabin - Chocolate Chip, Early Espresso, So Saffron Marker; ColorBox Frost White
Accessories:  Sky Blue Shimmerz Paint
Techniques:  Sponging

Card Size:  A2 (4.25" x 5.5")

Follow Me on Bloglovin'

Hi blogging friends,

 

As Google Reader goes away on July 1st I'm asking all of my blogging friends to follow Donna's Designs via Bloglovin'.  It is free, open internationally and easy to use.  Bloglovin' offers to import all of the blogs that you are currently following with Google Reader and allows you to organize them by groups.

 

CLICK THE BUTTON BELOW!  THEN CLICK THE BLUE FOLLOW BUTTON. 

 

 

 

With Google Reader shutting down soon, please consider following me on Bloglovin' so we can stay in touch.

 

Thank you for dropping by!   

Evergreens with So Sorry

I have two cards to show you using SU's So Sorry set with various trees.  I'm very happy I purchased this set as it really works great for sympathy cards and for someone who might not be feeling well.

On a piece of Whisper White paper I stamped the So Sorry sentiment in Marina Mist and embossed it with clear embossing powder.  The trees were stamped in Distress Iced Spruce and were dabbed a little with Handsome Hunter.  The focal image was adhered to a piece of Marina Mist and mounted to a denim card.

 

 

The inside sentiment was also stamped in Marina Mist with clear embossing powder.  I used a pine branch for the inside.

The second card was created by stamping the So Sorry in Night of Navy and embossing it with clear embossing powder.  I then lined up the second phrase with my Stamp-a-ma-jig and stamped it in Marina Mist and also embossed it. 

The pine trees from Stampscapes were stamped in Distress Iced Spruce and were dabbed a little with Handsome Hunter.

Thinking of You was stamped in Night of Navy and embossed.  A few pine trees were added to the inside to coordinate.

Both of these cards were for male friends.  As you can see a very versatile set!

 

I'm off now to play in the dirt.  Today is going to be a hot one!

 

Sharing my cards with ...

 

Let's Get Social Sunday with Evelyn & Jamie

Make It Monday @ Make It Monday

Inspire Me Monday @ Create With Joy

Make it Pretty Monday @ The Dedicated House

Anything Goes @ Divas by Design

 

Sympathy Card Recipe

Stamps:  So Sorry, Flourishes Forest of Trees & All That Glitters, SU Loving Thoughts

Paper:  Denim Card, Marina Mist, Whisper White

Ink:  Trees - Distress Iced Spruce with Handsome Hunter; Sentiment - Marina Mist with Clear EP

Techniques:  Embossing

Card Size:  A2 (4.25" x 5.5")

 

Get Well Card Recipe

Stamps:  So Sorry, Stampscapes Pine Tree & Pines and Rocks, SU Sincere Salutations

Paper:  Denim Card, Marina Mist, Night of Navy, Shimmery White

Ink:  Trees - Distress Iced Spruce with Handsome Hunter; Sentiment - Night of Navy & Marina Mist with Clear EP

Accessories:  Spellbinders Labels Eight #5

Techniques:  Embossing

Card Size:  A2 (4.25" x 5.5")