So Darned Sweet ...

Yesterday's "later" ended up being a lot later. I woke up this morning with a bug that included an upset stomach and and general all-over yucky feeling. Better tonight, I thought I'd post and show you the lovely surprise the mailman brought yesterday. Starting at the top, my friend Jeanne sent the loveliest card, the details of which can be seen here. Although it doesn't seem possible, the vellum flower is prettier in person. Under the card is a hat she knit me to go with the neckwarmer she sent me at Christmastime. Isn't that a gorgeous color? She sent it with the wish that I not have to wear it until next year. Twenty below only a few days ago, it was a balmy 51° today. When it comes to weather, anything can happen in Minnesota, so it remains to be seen whether or not I wear the hat this year. If not, I certainly will next year. It's beautiful! Now, about the CD, Jeanne has been making some really sweet cards (like this one) using images from CDs. When she ended up with a duplicate CD, she kindly thought of me and sent me her spare. I played around with a few images last night, the fruits of my labors below. She also sent some tulle ribbon in white, pink, and yellow. She used it on this gorgeous card. I'm anxious to see if I can make something purty, too! Thank you, Jeanne!

Here's what I did last night with a few simple images I printed from 350 (that's like 350 stamps!) I had to choose from on the CD. My cards, a full-size one and two 3x3-inch gift enclosure cards, are pretty much self explanatory. The images were colored with Prismacolor colored pencils and odorless mineral spirits, using a paper stump to blend the colors.

This evening, I saw this timely post with a tutorial for making 3x3-inch envelopes and got up enough gumption to make a couple to go with my cards. While I have a lot of envelope templates, I don't have one this size, and the last time I actually found 3x3-inch envelopes for sale on some website, the minimum order was 1,000, which was about 900 too many! Anyway, wanting an envelope with a little more flap, I ended up altering Deena's dimensions to 4-1/4 by 7-1/4 and then scoring at 1-1/2 and 4-1/2 inches. My white envelope was made with plain ol' copy paper and the blue one is cardstock.

Materials & Tools: White Daisy, Clover Meadow, Crystal Blue, and Hydrangea cardstock; Copy paper; Retired CTMH Hydrangea and Heavenly Blue gingham B&T paper; Clover Meadow, Crystal Blue, and Hydrangea ink pads; Images from Sunshine Graphics Britches & Bloomers CD; Papertrey Ink Mixed Messages stamp set; Prismacolor colored pencils; Gamsol odorless mineral spirits; Paper blending stumps; Ribbon from Wal-Mart; Martha Stewart Arch Lattice Edger punch; Cuttlebug w/Swiss Dots and Argyle embossing folders.

While I slept and laid around most of the day, I'd better get my backside to bed so I can try to go to work tomorrow. My stomach has settled down, but I'm still really achy. I hope yours is a wonderful week. Thanks for stopping by. Still wanting to try all of the sketches I've seen this weekend, I'll be back when I can ... 'Til then, take care!!