Butterfly wannabe update

The Gulf Fritillary caterpillars are getting nice and fat! Shouldn't be too long now and some of them should start their chrysallis stage. You can see two of them on the passion flower just chomping away! And I actually got a picture of a passion flower that's only 1/4 eaten! I think they are so pretty. More updates to come, so stay tuned!

Congrats!

To our Tampa Bay Rays 3rd baseman Evan Longoria Evan Longoria Stats, Bio, Photos, Highlights raysbaseball.com: Team who won the AL Player of the Month award for April! He is the first Ray to win this award since the team was formed 12 years ago.

It's also time to vote for the All Stars game. Go to www.raysbaseball.com and follow the links to cast your vote. Each person can vote 25 times, so make your voice heard!

CPS challenge

Another great sketch from Tami at http://www.cardpositioningsystems.blogspot.com/ this week.

I pulled out my Basic Grey Wisteria paper pad for this one. The lavender fabric flowers are from my stash, along with some Prima paper flowers, so I used them for the bottom border. The top flower is the stamp set from the CTMH Promo for May, Tickled Pink. The large flower is stamped in Hydrangya and the small one is stamped in Crystal Blue. I sanded the edges of both flowers and they are also pop dotted for dimension.

CardPatterns challenge

Cool sketch at CardPatterns this week.

Since I had Basic Grey Lime Rickey out playing with it, I figured why stop a good thing? I pulled out my Nestabilities Birds and Edgeabilities to dress up the bottom of the card just a bit. I used the smallest bird as a "wing" and edged it in Yellow Stickles. The eye is a CTMH Bitty Brad and the beak is Gunmetal Stickles. I used CTMH Dutch Blue ink and sponged the Edgeabilities before I removed it for a bit more dimension.

SheetLoad May challenge

Great sketch this month at SheetLoad of Cards - Free Monthly eZine! There's even a "bonus" scrapling card!

I made a trip to my wonderful LSS, Ruban Rouge Paper Arts yesterday to take advantage of their NSD 40% off everything in the store sale. Stocked up on Glossy Accents (I bought all they had!), got some t!m Holtz Idea-ology metals, Glue Dots (you can never have enough of those!), two new Distress Crackle Paints, Dusty Concord and Broken China, and both of the new Basic Grey Wisteria AND Lime Rickey 6x6 paper pads! All of that for under $50.00! Economy stimulation at it's finest!

So for the challenge at SheetLoad, I decided to make my mil's birthday card. I used four of the Lime Rickey papers. The metal corner element is

t!m, the bird is CTMH Bird Basics stamped in Sunny Yellow and Pansy Purple. I used Ranger Distress Stickles Milled Lavender for a bit of bling on the wing and tail. The sentiment is from CTMH Happy Birthday stamp set and is set behind a t!m Fragment. The scrapling card has a CTMH dimensional flower that I added a bit of Stickles in Lime Green for bling.

New Blog...and a Giveaway!

Amy at My Name Is Snickerdoodle was one of the first blogs I started reading. I've "known" her since before her son was born! Recently, her cousin Shalene launched her own blog From deep within the heart of TEXAS and is also launching her new vinyl wall words company. She is giving away some really cool things on her blog. I encourage you to go check her out. Leave her some loves!

Amy R's challenge

Amy's got another great sketch for us this week. Prairie Paper & Ink

Since I've had the Bella paper pack out, I figured I'd just go ahead and continue to play with it! I cheated a bit and used the beautiful and versatile Fancy Cut Botanicals for my flowers. There are three sheets of preprinted and scored flowers, centers, leaves and swirls per pack in the colors Juniper, Tulip, Creme Brulee, Sorbet and Lilac for $3.95. Great deal and so quick and easy to use! Pop them out and you're good to go! All of the flowers are pop-dotted. Sure wish that showed up in the picture! I used brads and buttons from my stash for the centers. Also a piece of White Daisy Waxy Flax and Creme Brulee ribbon.