Easter Day 2010

It was such a beautiful Resurrection Day! Along with spending some good quality time behind the camera, I spent some good time with family! My boys are growing up so fast!! Which can only mean that my perpetual age of 29 might be weakening! Yikes!

I caught some amazing photos of Spring flowers, as well as my boys. I am really in love with my new lens!!

Logan peeking through the tree...

Snowball trees

Red bud trees are in full swing too

This is one of my favorites of Keegan. All the color looks fantastic around him!

Logan is not quite as photogenic as Keegan, but not many 4 year olds are. Most shots of Logan are candid, such as this one, with he tongue stuck out!

The tulip trees are in full bloom! I love the color, really one of my favorite trees and smells wonderful!

This is my favorite of the day!

I'm not even sure what type of flowering tree this is, but it is so beautiful!

Thank you for stopping by! I hope you had a wonderful Easter Day!

Be sure to stop and see Mary at the Little Red House for Mosaic Monday!

Paper Dogwood Blossoms

The art of Paper folding and cutting is certainly not new, I suppose that paper crafting is a real love of mine, and I want to show you how easy it is to create beautiful dogwood blossoms out of something so simple: paper.

Here are the things you'll need:

White card stock

Paper cutter

scissors

hole punch (standard)

bone folder

Distress Inks, I used:

(Old Paper, from Ranger { Hi Tim! } & Sepia, from Archival Ink)

Rubber stamp

I used a snowflake design, because that is what I had on hand,

really anything that will give you a dappled look

Pencil (with an unused eraser)

I made 3 different sizes, 2''-4'', getting the most out of a 12X12 piece of white card stock.

Tree branch (optional)

Glue gun (only if using branch)

~Fold your squares into quarters, using the bone folder to get nice and crisp folds.

~Open the square back up, and fold corner to corner, just using your hand to crease, this gives a softer look to the petals

~Fold the paper back into a square, hold the square on the diagonal, cut the "corners" off, creating a teardrop shape

~Open your paper to reveal your almost dogwood!

And then make a whole bunch

...and a whole bunch more....

When you've finally cut out as many as you want, it's time to make it look real!

Like I said, I used a snowflake stamp and just kept stamping and stamping until it looked random enough, using 'Old Paper'

Then using a standard office hole punch, clip all four petals and then ink (with sepia) it with the unused eraser

If you need more inspiration, study the actual flower...that's what I did!

forestry.about.com

Using the tree branch, I hot glued the little dogwood blossoms on randomly. I knew I was doing this for a mantle display, so I concentrated on the "front" side of the branch. If I was doing this as a center piece, I would glue them facing all directions.

I will be honest, I liked the smaller 2 and 3 inch size better, the 4'' was just a wee bit too big....but he's still purdy! :)




I glued some onto the branch but, I really liked just laying them around too!




I just loved how it turned out!! I gotta tell you, it was addicting!! Cut and fold and crease and cut and fold and crease and...........

I hope you're inspired!! Come by again soon, I hope to be ready for the mantle reveal and more on Logan's room next week!!

Have a blessed Easter! He Lives!

A Springtime Dogwood Cloche

Inspiration comes in many forms. Today, I was inspired by Dogwood blossoms! I made several of these little dogwoods, in a few different sizes. The weather has just been so pleasant, what better way to celebrate spring than the beauty of a handmade dogwood!I wanted to create an easy and fresh vignette on our buffet, using the dogwoods I made and incorporating yellow, in the way of lemons. Keeping the same accessories and black that I usually have.

I added a springtime garden bunny, he looks right at home amongst the dogwoods
The wise old owl, a goodwill find, that I spray painted white, joins in on the fun. I just love him under glass!

You might remember when I recently painted this basket, I wired our initial onto it, layering without commitment...the best kind!

I used a small branch from the yard and glued some of the dogwoods on, with a little nest, of course, under glass.

I am going to be showing you how to create your own dogwoods next week, be sure to stop back by!




Also, I gave my mantle a springtime makeover! Stay tuned!!! See the little sneaky peek in the reflection? Ain't I a stinker !?!

Thanks for stopping by! I hope you're inspired!!!

Be sure to visit Marty