Quick post this morning.  I purchased this large dried gourd at a flea market for 75 cents, about 2 years ago.  Yep that’s right, it’s been hanging around in my stamp room for 2 years, lol.  My husband put a not so perfect hole in the front of it and drilled some small holes in the bottom for drainage and small holes in the top of the neck so I can run some twine through to hang it. 

This gourd is very blemished, even after sanding it with Sandpaper, so I decided to make it very rustic looking.   

No tutorial today since this was pretty much straight stamping.  I used Black Stazon ink to stamp the images. 

The images are by Innovative Stamp Creations :

http://www.innovativestampcreations.com/ischomepage.html

Since I was using unmounted stamps, I could using them without any mount and wrap the rubber around the gourd to stamp it.  I held the stamp in my hand, inked it and then pressed it to the gourd.   Where the images didn’t stamp as dark as I would like I colored them using a Black Faber-Castell marker.  The flower was colored in with a Brown Faber-Castell marker.  These markers are nice.  They are Indian ink and very fade resistant.

After stamping and coloring I finished it by spraying Clear High Gloss Polyurethane on it for protection.  My husband woke up this morning, saying what is that smell, lol.  Don’t worry folks I took it out side to spray it, but brought it in the house to dry.

It’s not the fanciest birdhouse ever created, but I like it’s rustic charm.  :)  Hopefully some bird family will enjoy it too.

Hope your day is filled with peace and sunshine.

Until my next post. . . . . . . . .

Michelle

We have had so very much rain all this month, not even once have I had to water the gardens.  This is my third year at this house and so it is the third year for this garden.  My Sister the Master Gardener told me, when I started putting in my perennial gardens, the first year your plants will sleep, second year they creep and the third year they leap.  Well they are all leaping this year for sure!

It was such a beautiful morning, not to hot or cold.  So I took a walk with my camera to take some photos to share with everyone.   Please don’t look at the dead-heading of plants that hasn’t been done or the weeds that haven’t been pulled.  I’ve been making card tutorials and have been a bit neglectful of late.  :)  The plants still seem to be so very happy this year.  They all seem to be two feet taller than they were last year this time.

Sweet Peas

Now here is my pal, Lucas behind the Day-lilies.  Note:  Lucas is over 100 lbs and he can almost hide behind them they have gotten so very huge.

There is definitely no rhyme or reason to the planting of my gardens.  Whatever I like gets shoved in somewhere.    I’m in the country for Pete’s sakes, so I have a country style garden.

I love Cone Flowers and so do the butterflies and Yellow Finches.  I’m sure to take some photos in the near future of all the butterflies, it’s to early in the morning for them just yet.

I still haven’t started digging my gardens that will go in front of this fence.  It’s an over whelming project that I just keep putting off.

Strawberry jar, yummmmm.

Come sit a while at one of our swings.. . . . . . .

A view from the swing this morning.  The corn fields are growing like made too.  Told you I was in the country.  There is no place like it.

I feed all the birds.  We have droves of Hummingbirds.

I have Lavender planted through out the gardens.  I love the smell as you walk by.

I’ll  leave you with the thoughts of the sweet, calming smell of Lavender, birds singing, corn stalks rustling in the breeze, morning sun on your face and the views from my swing. 

Have an absolutely lovely day!

Until my next post. . . . . . . . .

Michelle

SNEAK PEEK TIME EVERYONE!!!! 

Gina K. Designs is releasing new stamp sets on June 20th.  This card was made with one of the great images from the soon to be released set “Friendship Blooms”.  Check out that vase design, pretty wonderful, huh? 

Don’t miss out on the other sneak peeks and great tutorials going on at Gina K’s Blog, http://blog.ginakdesigns.com/

Also there are some fabulous sneak peeks on these Gina K. Design Team’s Blogs.  You won’t want to miss them either!  Here are the links, check them out

Julie Koerber  http://outtoimpress.blogspot.com/

Kurtis Amundson  http://www.stampinkub.com/blog/

Emily Giovanni  http://emilygiovanni.com/

Michelle Giraud  http://www.twisted-chick.blogspot.com/

Joanne  http://www.stampedbyhand.blogspot.com/

Linsey Rickett http://linseyrickett.blogspot.com/

Julie Buhler  http://paperpleasing.typepad.com/

Barb Schram  http://barbschram.blogspot.com/

Card information:

Supplies:

Stamps:  Gina K. Designs “Friendship Blooms”

Paper:  SU Whisper White, Taken With Teal, Really Rust

Ink:  Palette Noir Black, SU More Mustard & Really Rust

Accessories:  Ribbon, Brads, Versamark Marker, Clear Embossing Powder, Heat Gun, Photo Corner Punch, White Gel Pen, Prismacolor Markers, Piercing Tools, SU More Mustard Marker, Brenda Walton Adhesive Rhinestones

Note:  The main image was stamped using Noir Black ink and colored in with Prismacolor markers.  It was then colored over with a Versamark Marker and heat embossed with clear embossing powder and a heat gun. 

Background was brayered in this order, brayered More Mustard ink over entire card stock, masked right side of card stock with a post it note.  Brayered on More Mustard ink.  Removed post it notes and brayered Really Rust ink at the bottom to make the counter top.

The shadow image was created by stamping the flower vase image with more mustard ink and then coloring it in with a More Mustard Marker

Hope your day is filled with sunshine and vases of flowers!

Until my next post. . . . . .

Michelle