Maybe this is why I love my butterfly stamps so much.....

BEFORE THEY CAME!  Here you see one of my milkweed plants.  This is one of 10 that I added to feed the hungry Monarch catterpillers!

Here is one of the nearly 30 chrysallis that were created in our butterfly garden area. 

Below is one of the "hatchlings".  This particular butterfly hatched from a chrysallis rescued by the pump repairman.  I ended up using glue dots to attach it to the brick well.

Here is a "new" butterfly exercising her wings (males have thinner black lines and a black dot on each lower wing to distinguish them from the ladies) prior to flying off.

AFTER!

This is how my butterfly "garden" appeared after being decimated by so many catterpillers!  Not so beautiful and inviting!!  Not to worry though.  The leaves are coming back again for the next wave of monarchs.  (I also have a few Blue Swallowtail catterpillars on my parsley and fennel plants.)  If you've gotten this far and will comment and send me your e-mail address, I'll send the first "commenter"  the single butterfly stamp!

Wedding Decoration Fun!

With my older daughter re-marrying on July 17, I get to indulge in my favorite fantasy job of wedding planner once again! (Believe me, I would NOT wish to be a wedding planner for anyone other than my family members!)  The wedding will take place on our son's dock on the Grand Canal in IHB.  I am responsible for decorating dock pilings (lol) but I've got some great plans with pretty bows, cascading tulle and white flowers and pots of yellow purselane.  I'll post pictures after the 17th.  We have a yellow and white, simple but elegant, touch of tropical theme.  Above are the favors using So Saffron, Peach Parfait, Blushing Bride and Certainly Celery cardstock and ribbons.  I was supposed to be able to use a print template for the tags I bought but when all attempts failed I thought, "I can do that!"  Other decor I've completed are centerpieces, the Bride's table and cake table decorations, a card "cage",  Still to do:  making bouquets and boutonniers the evening before.

Now I'm off to straighten my stamp area and prepare to STAMP!!  Happy Stamping!!

SOS Stamp Club Meeting and Stamping With a Purpose! Please Join Us!

Here are some of the demos and make'n takes from last evening's SOS Stamp Club meeting at the Stamping Oasis--well the room right next to the Oasis since the heat in my Florida Room has made it seem more like the Stamping Desert!!


We had lots of fun making our Sea Turtle cards (I CASEd the design totally from Stampin' Connection.) and then changed gears with the new Fast and Fabulous 2-step stamping set!  We also used blender pens and aqua-writers on the new sketch stamps.  Too much fun!!


Ronald McDonald House Card Project!  The SOS (Stressed-Out Stampers) Club is going to spearhead a card-making project to benefit the Orlando, FL Ronald McDonald House.  We will be sending the cards to RMH in early September.  We hope you'll join us in this endeavor.  If you'd like to participate, E-mail me at reenathan@bellsouth.net and I'll send you our address.  I'll also, with your permission, post your works of art on my blog.


Here are the guidelines:
•Goal: 1 or 2 cards and envelopes a week (Perhaps you might just finish those cards that are half done or make an extra card or 2 the next time you sit down to create!)
•Cards: Thinking of You, Happy Birthday, Have a Good Day, etc. (No "Get Well Soon", please.)


•Our goal: 100+ cards and envelopes


•Ask other stamping friends to contribute.

Happy Stamping and Hugs!!  Ree

Scraps Challenge!

So many scraps, so little time!  As I was sorting my leftover bits of CS and DSP, I decided to go ahead and file everything (2 crates' worth) by name and "New Color"/"Retired Color" by family palette.  Each manilla folder has the color name and a small floral stamp of the corresponding color.  How empowering is that?? :-D

After looking at all of my scraps, I decided to give myself a challenge:  Use nothing but scraps (including the cards themselves) for 10 cards a week.  Like you, I have accumulated 100's of extra punches, stamps, embellishments etc. from previous projects.  Here was a chance to use some of them!  My other self-imposed rules were:

• No new ribbons (just those from my ribbon jar) or new die cuts.
• Limited stamp sets.
• Unlimited use of punches.
• Any colors could be used.

I decided last week that I would spend some quality time with my supplies anyway so.....in a few hours last evening and and hour and a half this afternoon, I created 2 small 6-page mini-scrapbooks and 8 cards. (By the way, the first follower that comments will win a cool stampin' prize.  Be sure that I have your email address.) You'll see the old along with the new but it is all good and all fun!!  (I don't think I even made a miniscule dent in my scrap crates!!)