Life's a Bowl of cherries

There is a demonstrator group that I belong to that has weekly swaps.  In May, one of the weekly swaps was based on this photo:

 It's a cool photo. I had stamping insomnia from it. My mind was mulling over how to make a card that reflected the inspiration. Hmmmm.  A 1950s feel to me...some art deco too.  I like the colors.  I even like the Melon Mambo in there. :-)  And here is the card I made for the swap.

I liked the rounded corners of the marquee, so I rounded my layer corners.  I swiped a white craft pad over the layers of Tempting Turquoise to get the worn feel.  And why the cherries?  Well, my Grandma Daisy had a bowl very similar to the one in the stamp image.  And it was actually blue and red.  When I first saw the stamp set, called Cherish Friendship, it was Grandma Daisy's bowl that came to mind...and probably why I bought the set.  :-)  A 1950s bowl to go with the 1950s vibe of the card.  Makes sense in my mind. 
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I colored the bowl and cherries with water color pencils.  They seem to be my favorite coloring tool as of late.  My cherries are Mt Rainier cherries.  They have more of the yellow coloring than do Bing or Pie cherries.  Can you see the shine on them?  That's Crystal Effects that I dotted onto each cherry.  Now the image has a bumpy feel to it--like there's really something in the bowl.

Here's a picture of the side so you can see all of the layers.  It's like stairs! You can also see the bumpy cherries!  The three rhinestones adds the glamor of the theater marquee. 

Something I like about the stamping world is how we can be inspired by anything.  I can't wait to see what the other swappers make!  That part is always the most fun.

Thanks for stopping in.
Kristine

A couple more challenges with another sneak peek

Today is Mother's Day.  Happy Mother's Day to all Moms!

Thomas has returned home from Disneyland and we are all so glad to have him home.  Three days is a looonnnngggg time.  We picked him up from the school at 8:30 this morning.  They left Disneyland at 11:30 last night and slept on the bus.  Lord, I admire the fortitude of his teacher and chaperons.  I'd be cranky, bleary-eyed and no one's friend by the end of the trip.  As I sit typing this, I can hear my children playing in the back of the house.  Lovely sound.  A wonderful present for the day.

In my last post I shared that Olivia and I had been using crafting as therapy for missing Thomas.  I have a couple more cards to share from yesterday.

This first card was a challenge card that Livi thought of.  She picked two colors from the Color Coach and we each had to come up with a card--without the help of layout/sketch.  The colors she picked were Chocolate Chip and Lucky Limade.  Thank God...finally colors that suit me!

Here is Livi's card.

If you have been a subscriber/follower for awhile, you will recognize that this color combo is way out of Livi's comfort zone.  She is a brights kinda gal.  She also has some vertical elements in her card, which is unusual for her.  Didn't she do a great job using the markers on the trees!

And here is my card.  I really like how this card came out.  I used the DSP from the retiring Nursery Nest.  The little owls are on the DSP and I cut them out.  

The sentiment is from a new stamp set called Itty Bitty Banners.  It's the perfect size. As I was making the card, I began to think of my dad.  His birthday is right around the corner.  He is turning 75!  Doesn't seem possible.  Hubby and I were talking the other day and figured out that my parents were our current age when we first started dating. (Did that sentence make sense? Not sure how to phrase that?) But anyway, if that is not a mind blower, I don't know what is.  But, I digress.  Thinking of my dad, an awful pun came to mind to put inside the card.  This kind of punniness is right up his alley.  Everyone else will groan.  He'll repeat it the rest of the day. 

There you have it.  Two more cards. 

Livi and I have spent some time today organizing my new stamps.  Being a former librarian, I tend to be organized.  Livi played secretary and did all the copying and filing of all the new goodies.  She's a gem.  She actually had a blast making the copies and getting everything into my personal catalog and placed on the shelves correctly.  There may be a wee bit of librarian in her, too. :-)  It helped her pass some of the time waiting for Thomas to take a shower and get himself refreshed from the bus ride. It's been good that Livi is keeping me occupied, too.  I have the overwhelming urge to constantly hug my son and just look at him.  I cannot tell you how hard it was to let him go on his own.  But I am restraining and not driving him bonkers.  I know a 14 year old boy/young man will only put up with so much huggin' from mom. :-)

Okay, enough time has passed.  Time for another hug! Watch out Thomas! :-)

Kristine