Summer Breezes Hello

 

         I was checking a few of the blogs that I follow where I know that the owner participates in color challenges (which I’ve never done before) and came across the Color Throwdown blog.  This week’s inspiration picture was flowers in a mason jar and the colors remind me of my mother’s peonies that bloom in late spring where I grew up.  One of the colors they used, I didn’t recognize, but the others were Stampin’ Up!’s colors.  I chose to substitute the new In Color Coastal Cabana for that one.  I also decided to use a jar like the photo inspiration because the new color reminded me of the older canning jars that my mother pulled out every summer when our garden started to produce lots of veggies to can and freeze.  You may remember those jars or find them now in antique stores.  They are sort of a blue/green color.  I’m also using the first week’s sketch from the Viva la Verve July Sketch Challenge.  I failed to do the last step for June’s challenge so I'm trying again.  I sure would like to win the gift certificate as there are a lot of stamps with matching dies that I’d love to get off my wish list and into my craft space!  Wish me lots of luck!  The card is 5.5” by 5.5” so that it fits easily in the 6” by 6” inch envelopes.

·       Stamp set(s):  Stampin’ Up Perfectly Preserved (ret.) and Friendship Preserves (ret.)

·       Ink(s):  All from Stampin’ Up!:  Crumb Cake, Pretty in Pink (ret.), Regal Rose, Old Olive, & Coastal Cabana 

·       Paper:  All from Stampin’ Up! – Pretty in Pink (ret.), Crumb Cake, Coastal Cabana, & Very Vanilla; and from Prima Flights of Fancy Collection ‘tip toe”

·       Dies & Embossing folders:  Cuttlebug:  Swiss Dots Embossing Folder; Stampin’ Up!:  Square Lattice Embossing Folder; Framelits – Ovals Collection, Window Frames, Cannery Set; Embosslits, Beautiful Wings

·       Embellishments/Other things of note:  Big Shot, Stampin’ Dimensionals, Aleene’s Super Thick Tacky Glue, sponge daubers

I liked the sketch from the Viva la Verve July 2013 Challenge, but I rotated the background 90° so that I had the oval going vertically instead of horizontally across the background papers.  The Prima paper has a nice distressed look with the browns and neutrals in the papers so all of the edges were inked with Crumb Cake ink.  I liked the way the Coastal Cabana pulls the colors from the butterflies out for an extra special accent and the Pretty in Pink brightens the Prima Paper a bit for some contrast in the pink family I used for this card.  The overall effect of the card does remind me of the colors of summers spent at home growing up and the canning Mom did every summer.  Pleasant memories of home come to mind, which at the time weren’t so pleasant spending summer afternoons stringing beans, shelling lima beans and black-eyes peas.  Not so fun doing it at the time, but the eats were good come winter!  Miss you both Mom & Dad!  I’ll be seeing you again when my race is finished here!

Thank you for stopping by my corner of the world and taking a look at my interpretation of these two challenges.

Many blessings,

Donna