The Funkie Junkie Boutique Challenge #7... April Flowers Bring May Flowers... 50

      We've been back in Indiana for a week now, but what a week. Somehow, I received a bug as a going away present from Florida; I was feeling flu-like symptoms and slept all the way back to Indiana. It's still hanging on a bit, so trying to get the house back to normal living condition has been a bit rough. At least the Indiana weather has been warmer! We did make it back in time for quite a lot of things going on (most of which I had to skip), including Princess Pistachio's (Chloe's) "Golden" Birthday; she turned 3 years old on April 3rd. Her Mommy & Daddy had a party at their house- with both sets of Grandparents and her Big Bubby Cole (Peanut). The birthday season in our family began with Older Daughter (their Mommy) March 23rd and the ball rolls on from there. Next on the list is their Uncle Brett on April 14th. Brett has had most of his birthdays as "Hoppy Birthday" since Easter falls around that time each year. He was born 4 days before Easter in 1992. So we'll be trying to make our first trip to their new home in Upstate New York the week after that. Baby Pecan (Jamie): he got his first haircut on April 2nd. Our Grandbabies have a lot more hair than their Dads did when they were little. Our boys were mostly bald until they were about 2. But then...they had the only huge blonde 'fro' hairdos out of the entire school, by Jr High. Unfortunately, they got that from their Mother's naturally frizzy/curly/blonde head- from my Daughtery (bio Father's) side. Lol. The Grandbabies all have the most BEAUTIFUL heads of hair in the world: smooth and silky wit blonde for the older 2 and "strawberry blonde" for Jamie. I'm expecting the New Baby to have beautiful hair also! No criers during haircuts in this family- both boys just take it in stride. Princess is the only one yet to have a cut.

    I was glad I'd made my inspiration make for this new "April Showers Bring May Flowers" before I left Florida. It was given as a gift just 2 days before we left. But getting it blogged has been an entirely different kind of challenge in itself. I really had a great time constructing the past 2 Challenge makes, so I decided to 'take a break' with this one and just do a simple Tag. I'd forgotten how involved just playing with inks and Paper Dolls/Found Relatives can get- so much FUN! So, scroll on down and I'll show you what I did...

After the Funkie Junkie Boutique Saturday Showcase project, 

I had quite a bit leftover of the Prima Marketing Peach Tea 6x6 Paper Pad

You really get your money's worth from it; it's a double-sided good cardstock paper.

I also had peach colored PM Peach Tea Flowers and plenty of the 

Peach Tea SIIC (Say It In Crystals) leftover and I thought they were just

too pretty to stash away till next Spring. 

It turned out that a couple at our Florida Home Church Away-From-Home-Church

were celebrating their 50th Wedding Anniversary on March 27th.

Vickie and her Husband, Dan, do quite a lot in Church- helping with many things.

Vickie does a stellar job of crafting table decor and flowers for events.

I learned a few tricks she used and admire her talent!

So I thought a Tag for their gift would go over well, and this PM set was perfect for it!

Here are the main items/tools I used- each item listed is linked so you can find one:

Prima Marketing Peach Tea 6x6 Double Sided Paper Pad 

Prima Marketing Peach Tea Flowers; Perfect Day 

Prima Marketing Peach Tea SIIC (Say It In Crystals 

Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Oxide Saltwater Taffy Ink Pad

Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Oxide Ink Pad Speckled Egg

Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Oxide Pad- Iced Spruce

Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Oxide - Ground Espresso

Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Paint- Salvaged Patina

Ranger Inkssentials Mini Ink Blending Tools w 4 Foams

Ranger Inkssentials Ink Blending Tool w 2 Foams

Tim Holtz Tonic Studios Kushgrip 7 In Scissors

Ranger Inkssentials Glossy Accents

Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Crayon Picket Fence

Tim Holtz IdeaOlogy- Tiny Clips

Tim Holtz IdeaOlogy- Ephemera Snippets- (An older version which may no longer be available.)

Tim Holtz IdeaOlogy- Found Relatives 2022

Tim Holtz IdeaOlogy- 12 x 12 Paperie Pad - Memoranda

       

I started out by using a die cut Tag as a pattern since I didn't bring my 

Tim Holtz Thinlits Die Set Tags with me. 

I chose a fave sheet from the TH double-sided cardstock paper,

then inked around the edges of 2 cuts (for Front and Back)

with TH Distress Oxide Ink in Iced Spruce.

Then I used some TH Ground Espresso Oxide to edge them a bit more,

and also do same with 2 of the manilla colored Tag die cuts.

(I keep a stack of them handy, in different colors, papers, and thicknesses, 

since I have both the TH Thinlits Tag Dies Set and the much older Bigz L Die Tag and Bookplates.)

For something different;

I decided to just use my Oxide Ink Pads to color the 

TH Found Relative card. The Saltwater Taffy and Speckled Egg shades

just go along so PERFECTLY with that Prima Marketing Peach Tea line of products!

I used my heat gun in between each :

Dab ink, wipe with baby wipe (and Qtip) then heat dry, & repeat till satisfied.

Adding some TH Distress Oxide Ground Espresso gives the Found Relative card 

a bit of depth by shading around the edges and corners.

And it was THAT simple!

I tore a couple hunks of the PM Peach Tea paper and shaded each

with matching Oxide Inks as the couple in the FR card.

Clipped a Ground Espresso Oxide Inked TH Ephemera Snippet piece with

a Tiny Clip, and added an older TH IdeaOlogy Adornment- Mirrored Heart  

using Glossy Accents.

Bunching up a "bouquet" of the PM Peach Tea Flowers,

a few Say It In Chrystals, and a 

TH Trinket Pin/ TH IdeaOlogy Jump Ring (older items) holding a 

beautiful antique bronze butterfly charm

that came with one of my recent orders.

( FREEBIES from THE FUNKIE JUNKIE BOUTIQUE- with every order!

50 years married is a VERY special occassion and we were honored to

be able to help celebrate with them!

Dan smoked all the pork himself while Vickie made all the DELISH 

dishes to go along with that- to feed the entire congregation.

The Back is simply Tim Paperie with some Ground Espresso and Iced Spruce

Oxide Inking all around. A satin ribbon from stash completes the look.

The photos were taken at the Anniversary party- 

using the gift of a big, beautiful arrangement of flowers (from our Besties)

to Dan and Vickie as the background for the gifted Tag.

I helped get the flowers the day before on a trip out 

with my Bestie and 3 of her 4 girls for their yearly Crestview Nursery outing.

While there- enjoying the thousands of plants, flowers, trees, and arrangements

on display, we had fun taking photos together and making our planting choices.

This year, I picked out 2 more palm trees: Majestic and Edible Date Palm,

and got them planted into the ground before we left for Indiana.

This "April Showers Bring May Flowers" Challenge is the perfect chance

for you to show off those beautiful blooms everyone loves to put on their makes.

Don't forget to add a few bugs or butterflies- to help keep those blooms blooming! ;)

Share your finished make on our Challenge Blog 

and you could win - a Top 3 Badge, Guest Designer spot, or a $25 GC

Sponsored by

The Funkie Junkie Boutique !

Let the showers come down and spend some time "planting" flowers

in your Craft Studio!

THANKS SO MUCH for the many peeks at all the makes-

especially for the Saturday Showcase!

Come back again, soon... and often!

Until next time...

Stay Safe &

HAPPY BLOGGING!!

Frilly and Funkie Challenge #10; Spring Is In Bloom...Bloom Where You are Planted!

   May Day! It seems like it was so far off just a while ago, and it's here! The month of "shrooming", grass growing & mowing (in earnest), & the very 2nd Day of May is when our Older Son, Brian, was born...THIRTY years ago!
It was just one of the first of THE best days of my life; holding that 4 weeks preemie baby boy and wondering at how GOD can do such perfect Creating. I felt like I was born to be a Mom, and he was such a good baby, child, and now a Dad twice over himself- as well as bringing us a wonderful Daughter. But....30?? Time flies.
      If that's not enough of a milestone; the Younger Couple Kids chose to announce their secret on that same day: we're going to be Grandparents again this year- November! At the moment, I can't imagine 3 Grandbabies at Christmas this year, but if it's anything like the first Christmas with Wittle Peanut Cole...I think it will be AWESOME with him, the Princess Pistachio, Chloe Madison, and Baby Larimore!! No gender as of yet for the Baby-of-the-family's Baby, but like the first two Grandbabies: as long as it's healthy and everything goes well for both Baby and Momma- we'll be happy! Watching the Younger Son try to open and close a new stroller while we were up there over Easter (did the photo shoot then), was nothing short of hilarious. It was like a replay of when we were expecting Cole just 2 short years ago. (Frankly, I think those new strollers are made to be ADULT PROOF when it comes to opening and closing the suckers.)
           All the above has me feeling like this current Frilly and Funkie Challenge is just right for me- it's as if things really ARE "blooming", and coming up roses as well.  But what made me think of my take on this, was that each of these Grandbabies is going to be just as different from each other, as they are similar. Each will be blessed with their own personality and their own talents. Since David's late Mom was known as "Grandma Larimore", I decided not to take that name. I go by MeeMaw (MeeMaw Larimore); which Cole just said the other day for the first time, much to my extreme excitement! As a Grandma, I will have no favorites. We raised our boys that way, and we love them each differently but the same. And we love both our Daughters the same as well. Each child is a GIFT and there is just no way for one to shine over another. While no child can choose who they are born to, likewise, they cannot choose where or when they will be born- that's all up to GOD who is the Creator. And there are so many times- especially in these days- when we look out at the news both locally and around the world and it brings sadness to us that awful things happen. I used to rant and rave at the injustices of this world, and watching the news made that worse. I have one Sister who absolutely refuses to watch any news at all because of this feeling. It can make ANY of us feel helpless to be able to do anything to help when and where there is hurt in the world. Yes- we can PRAY. And YES- that DOES work! But, I learned long ago, that the peace we can feel comes easier if we learn to do what we can...right where we are! Even the simplest help can go a long way! Of maybe you have a way to travel and help, or send help (we have done both of these also). Anyone can be an important part of "the big picture". Everyone has a talent. Everyone is important. And most of all: EVERYONE IS LOVED.
        The bottom line of all the aforementioned: BLOOM WHERE YOU ARE PLANTED! 

                 And this is where my inspiration took me...

I started out with a couple of larger-sized rotary-cut Tags.

Each would make a side of one Tag put together.

TH Memoranda Paper was calling my name with "Hey, you; USE ME!", lol.

I treated them with TH Oxide Inks in Antique Linen and Old Paper.

I started with some basic cuts from TH Alterations Dies;

Bigz Tattered Evergreen

and Thinlits Set, Wildflowers #2

I had a Sizzix basket embossing folder, so I fussy cut that out.

The Evergreen Die makes pinecones, but a long time back; Tim showed how to 

make a tattered rose with the same die. This was my intent for it here.

I started with the Front Side Tag- making the twisted stem out of a Stampin'Up stamp,

embossing it and then cutting it out TWICE- each twist as one length, and then twisting them together again for some added dimension popped up with popdots.

A Friskars Christmas Light punch made leaves just the right size:

I stacked up the punched-out leaves into four layers and took a snip off one side

with my TH Scissors. I loved the effect I got!

Here comes that TH Faceted Hearts Thinlits Set again!

I absolutely LOVE this die set !!!

(Can't you tell?!)

Again: this little trick keeps the hearts from getting smashed in.

I tear up tiny pieces of Kleenex Tissue and shoved them into an almost-closed heart

glued together with Glossy Accents. Another dab or two will close the hearts up completely.

I made 4 out of one small sheet of pastel cardstock, but only needed three.

Here's where the TH Distress Inks and Oxide Inks come in:

giving each piece or layer of cardstock/paperie some dimension before adding it to the Tag.

Lastly, I made the saying on my computer and printed it out.

TH Strip Die Tattered Ribbons made a nice cut for them.

This was how it came out...

FRONT SIDE

You can see the pop dots added (in 4 layers) to build up the planter to a rounded up shape.

Every planter has some kind of stick or fun item in it!

So the TH Story Stick worked here- out of IdeaOlogy.

BACK SIDE

This ribbon was given pop dots in an uneven layer across the back-

I wanted it to look like it was waving out in a field.

Three cuts of the bloom itself gave this flower some "oomph"!

Pop dots to the rescue for that.

And a bit of TH Distress Crayon in Spiced Marmalade gave a bit of color to the tips.

THANKS;

once again, for stopping by!!

And even MORE SO; for all the comments!!

I am truly honored to have so many people taking a look at my makes!

If you get the chance...

stop by The Frilly and Funkie Challenge Blog

to look at the other entries for this Challenge,

And better still: JOIN US!!

I've had several of my projects get into the Top 3 Picks,

chosen as a Top Pick (to be a Guest Designer)

and I've had the pleasure of winning the Drawing from the Sponsor;

The Funkie Junkie Boutique ,

and YOU have those chances as well!!

But you'll never know till you TRY!

Here's to a BLOOMIN' SPRING for all!

Be Safe &

HAPPY BLOGGING!