Cards for challenges

 I found some time to make a few cards for this weeks Grungy Monday and Simon Says challenges. For Grungy Monday we were challenged to use Ranger Alcohol Inks. Well to be fair that's really not a challenge. I hadn't had mine out for ages and thoroughly enjoyed it. As you can see on yesterdays post I started with my alcohol ink backgrounds and stamped some of my favourite images on them. I kind of got stuck there and left them for a day or so. This seems to be happening a lot lately but I guess I just have to go where the creative flow takes me, or at least that's what I keep telling myself. So when I got back to the card making I wasn't feeling very inspired by what I had so far but I just started pulling scraps of paper and what not out of drawers and put stuff together. I wasn't terribly thrilled with my first attempt which you can see above but I was a little more happy with attempt #2 which is below.

The textured background is one I made a while back for another Grungy Monday challenge but the card never got finished. So there it was ready to be used.
The Simon Says challenge was to use a word which is something that has a lot of appeal to me lately. We can convey so much in just a word. I have some necklaces with just one word on that I love to wear depending on how I'm feeling that day or what direction I need reminding of that I'm trying to go in.

If you have a chance head over to Grungy Monday or Simon Says to check our what everyone else has created this week.

Mr. Cardinal

Sure enough Mr. Cardinal must have been lurking in the nearby trees while Ms. Cardinal had a little treat at our feeder. He finally came over for a treat of his own. He was pretty hard to capture though, very skittish and nervous. I think he was just watching out for his sweetie so she could eat in peace. What a loving partner!

I was lucky to spy this guy yesterday in between running around. Another few busy days of prep and then some down time with the family is in order. I hope things are coming together for your holiday festivities. I'm feeling a little tattered and worn but I think the end is in sight.

Take care and remember to stop and enjoy the beauty along the way.

Ms. Cardinal

It's been busy here getting ready for the holiday season as I'm sure most of you are too. So not much creativity has been happening in the studio. I did take a few moments to enjoy our friendly Ms. Cardinal visitor. She doesn't seem to have a partner with her at the moment but I'm hoping he'll come along later.

She's been coming around to the feeder each day all by herself. As you can see she's very entertaining.

Her visits are usually not too long as the Mourning doves seem to be chasing her away.

What's a lady alone to do!

Take care and don't forget to watch the beauty along the way.