Good Friend - For a Good Friend

My friend Cathy is celebrating a birthday this week. We decided to have lunch together and then hit one of the local garden nursery centers. I didn't really NEED anything. I have close to 8 flats of plants under my grow lights at the moment! But it's always fun to look. I restrained myself and came home with only three plants. I'm hoping to get outside AGAIN today and plant them! I still haven't finished my outside work! The weathered here has not cooperated. We've had such terrible winds and it is no fun working outside in that.

So, back to Cathy's birthday. I made a little tote, it's called genie bag, for the little goody I got her. This was such a fun project. Simply facing a paper bag and using the Large Oval Punch to make the handle. I used the retired Cutie Pie paper because it best matched the card I had already made. I have been stamping so little, this is the first time my birdie from Good Friend has seen any ink! I really had no idea where I was going with this. I just kept adding things 'til it looked done! The last touch was the gathered ribbon at the top. It turned out be one of my favorite things about the project! I adhered the ribbon to the back, brought it around to the front and gathered it as I sewed it down. I used the needle down position on my machine to keep the ribbon in place with all the stopping and starting of each gather. I used my seam ripper to help hold down the gather as I was sewing over it.

The card I made is from an old set You Make Me Happy. It's one of my favorite floral sets. I must be one of the only ones because it never made it out of the mini catalog! Love the goodies on this card, beads and puffy paint! The inside stem is also from You Make Me Happy but the "Happy*Happy*Birthday I did on the computer.

I hope you are having a great week. It's flying by for me! Bite my tongue, I'm not ready for Friday!

Kristina's Color Inspiration #1

Well, the boys lost. They put up a great fight and were behind by two at the half. In the end the game got away from them. Congratulations on a great season, Bobcats!

Here's Kristina's very first challenge! And do you know what I discovered when looking for the original publish date? Today is the exactly 1 year of Color Inspirations!!! Kristina is such a great lady. She gives so much of herself in her blog. If by some crazy chance you've never gone to her sight. Please check her out (you can click on her name and it takes you to her site.)

I had such a great time with this card. The colors to use were Purely Pomegranate, Pumpkin Pie, Pretty In Pink and Chocolate Chip. I used a retired set, You Make Me Happy. I love this big flower stamped in Purely Pomegranate. I paper pierced freehand then went back with brown pearl cotton thread and did a running stitch. I continued the running stitch around the leaves. It's such a fun technique, don't be surprised if I use it again....soon!

So, remember to keep coming back each day. I still have a good 15 or challenges to complete. I'll be back again tomorrow! Have a great day!