Hi Everyone. Happy Wednesday
Yay…. we are past the mid-way point in the week and the weekend is almost upon us… and we have furniture arriving tomorrow. It's a great day 🙂
I made a second card for the cas-ual fridays splish splash challenge. I knew that I wanted to use one of my brand new sets – By the Seashore. In case you missed this set in the new catalog – here's a quick view of it.
I love the realism in the sketches and have been waiting for an excuse to ink it up. This challenge was the perfect time.
I also realized that I tend to gravitate to placing my elements at the bottom of my card. Mmmm… I decided it was time to spice things up a little.
I used Very Vanilla for the base and stamped the background elements in Crumb Cake. The horizontal layer is Naturals Ivory, backed by Crumb Cake. I stamped the final shell in Early Espresso ink, cut around it and popped it using dimensionals. The sentiment is from Sweet Essentials. The final touch was the linen thread. I love the earthy neutrals of this card.
On a personal note:
You have heard the phrase "What can brown do for you?" Well…. I can tell you…….
He not only delivered the floor lamps and shades, but also new pillows and bedding! The poor man in brown, it took him ages to get all of this out of his truck. I was on a conference call and shouted thank you thru the window, and apologized that he had unloaded so many things. He said not to apologize, cos it was people like us that provided job security :-) It was great to see things finally arrive and I can't wait for the couch and chairs to arrive tomorrow!
Want to see what was visiting our garden today?
This little guy!
Let's get a closer look at him
Isn't he a cutie? You can see his distinguishing yellow dot that runs between his beak and his eye. there have been a few of them around for the last several days. You can read all about him at the all about birds site here.
I also captured a pic of this little guy using our furniture as cover. Sadly he was moving pretty quickly, so I coudn't get a great shot
Finally, and luckily not at our feeders :-) I was lying in bed reading late last night and heard a pack of coyotes calling. The cats pricked up their ears and decided it was best not to go near a window. It really is a very eerie sound late at night. The called and yipped for a good 5 minutes so my guess was that they had found themselves supper. Like all predators, they are a very useful part of nature!
As always, thank you for spending time in my little area of the stamping blogosphere. I appreciate your visits and your comments.
Warm hugs and prayers for those of you who need a little lift tonight.
Hugs
Jaydee
7 Responses
If you’d like to read a novel that speaks to the place of coyotes in the ecosystem (or if you have time!), you could check out Prodigal summer by Barbara Kingsolver. Wikipedia had this quote:
Kingsolver has written novels in both the first person and third person narrative styles, and she frequently employs overlapping narratives.[22] Many of her works display her thorough knowledge of biology and ecology; for example, the novel Prodigal Summer has extensive commentary on the value of higher predators in ecosystems,[22] and many of her essays in the book Small Wonder are based upon the lessons of biodiversity.[28] Her books are often characterized as having distinct female voices.[2]
Kingsolver’s literary subjects are varied, but she often writes about places and situations with which she is familiar; many of her stories are based in places she has lived in, such as central Africa and Arizona. She has stated emphatically that her novels are not autobiographical, although there are often commonalities between her life and her work.[2] Her work is often strongly idealistic [3] and her writing has been called a form of activism.[29] Kingsolver’s characters are frequently written around struggles for social equality, such as the hardships faced by illegal immigrants, the working poor, and single mothers.[3] Other common themes in her work include the balancing of individuality with the desire to live in a community, and the interaction and conflict between humans and the ecosystems in which they live.[6] Kingsolver has been said to use prose and engaging narratives to make historical events, such as the Congo’s struggles for independence, more interesting and engaging for the average reader.[2]
Once again, the simplicity of this card, and the white space (oh, all that glorious white space!) has me reeling with happiness. It’s so stunning in it’s simple elegance, Jaydee. Just beautiful. I had eyed this set multiple times and now REALLY want it.
I just love it when the UPS man comes, it’s like Christmas! And how fun to open all those packages and set your home up! :o) Our UPS man leaves treats for the pooches. If only he carried kitty treats as well…
Your birdie is too sweet! We don’t have white-throated sparrows around here. That little splash of yellow is striking.
Your furry visitor there? Yes, we have plenty of those. They steal my tomatoes and empty my bird feeders, and yet, I still enjoy them.
Coyotes? How haunting and stunning! You are blessed in your new space, you truly are. And, your new space is equally blessed to have you two nature lovers (and conservationists) in residence. :o)
Hugs!
P.S. Howdy Lou! :o)
The neutral colour palette is perfect for your images, love the CAS design too :0)
So glad you joined us this week at CASual Fridays :0)
Jenny x
I love all your photos, but your card is so serene and pretty. I love the mix of neutrals. So happy to see you at CAS-ual Fridays this week! Thanks for playing!
Hi Jaydee! What a serene card! So calm, I love it! We just got back from the ocean, so these shells just speak to me. I like the monotone color scheme and how you popped up the expresso sand dollar.
What a sweet little birdie. I’ve never seen any of those. You are in the perfect spot to enjoy all of God’s creatures!
Just can’t wait to see some more photos of your home sometime. I would be jumping up and down with delight to see Mr. Brown appear!
Love this card, the soft neutral color palette is perfect for the seashells 🙂 Thanks for playing this week at CAS-ual Fridays!
Such a beautiful card, Jaydee! So serene! I love the sand dollar printed on the newsprint!