Hello Spring...

Hi my friends, Spring has definitely arrived in in my little corner of North-East Scotland, bringing beautiful sunny, although still a bit chilly, weather, ideal weather to continue with the big garden make-over but I've had to downsize my ideas somewhat and will explain later. In the meantime I'm sharing a card to celebrate Spring, inspired by the colours of the crocuses in my garden, using Tim Holtz Sizzix Bunny Hop Thinlits from Chapter 1 and Stacked Circles Thinlits from Chapter 2 with one of my favourite alphabet sets, Alphanumeric Classic Upper, Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous Spring Shadows and Flower Shop stamp sets.

I trimmed Distress Cracked Leather and Distress Watercolor cardstock to make 2 - 4.1/2"x 6.1/2" panels, spritzed the Cracked Leather panel with Scattered Straw, Fossilized Amber and Peacock Feathers Distress Oxide Sprays and the Distress Watercolor with Fossilized Amber and Spiced Marmalade. I used Peacock Feathers Distress Oxide ink and Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous Halftone Layering Stencil to add more interest on the background and spritzed with water to create that oxidised look. I die-cut the large circle using Sizzix Circle Framelits and used two different sized circles from Stacked Circles to create that faux frame effect. I fixed the panels together, pieced the smaller circles back in place and stamped the script image from Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous Flower Shop inked with Black Soot Distress Archival randomly over the background.

I used a Sakura Black Micron pen to add faux stitching around the circle frames. I inked the flower stamp from Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous with Wild Honey and Dusty Concord Distress Oxide inks, stamped on to a scrap of Distress Watercolor card and fussy cut leaving a white border.

I die-cut the bunny from Distress Cracked Leather card using Tim Holtz/Sizzix Bunny Hop Thinlits, coloured lightly with Walnut Stain Distress Ink using a mini round blending tool, spritzed lightly with water and fixed in place with Tim Holtz/Sizzix Mini Foam Adhesive.

I die-cut the letters from Distress Watercolour card using Tim Holtz/Sizzix Alphanumeric Classic Upper Thinlits and fixed in place with Distress Collage Medium Matte.

I inked the splatter stamp from Spring Shadows with Wild Honey Distress Oxide ink and stamped over the alphabet letters. I fixed the flowers in place with Mini Foam Adhesive and added dots to the centres using a Sakura Black Glaze Pen.

 To finish I added splatters of White Gesso and matted the panel on to  5" x 7" white card blank.

But back to the garden make-over which I have been tackling a little bit at a time. I've raked the borders almost level, removed lots of stones and debris, bagged a couple of days' work up ready to be taken to the recycle centre, started planting some flowers and shrubs and thought I would soon be ready to lay the weed control fabric and order the gravel.

BUT the project has ground to a halt, I can't get rid of the bags of garden waste I already have because the recycle centre is closed and can't order the gravel and materials to make the raised beds, because, yes you've guessed it, the DIY Store/Garden Centre is also closed. It is what it is and I ain't getting my knickers in a twist about something so trivial in the scheme of things, instead I've downsized my ideas and will be having fun with my new indoor garden, thanks to the Little Garden Seedlings Kits from my friends at my local M&S and if all goes well, come Summer I'll be feasting on Peppers, Basil, Carrots and Pansies, remind me to Google if pansies are edible.

Have fun with whatever is keeping you occupied while you stay at home.

Hugs Kath xxx

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