Lovely Lilacs

Back on May 1st, I followed a blog tour and remembered that on a website of a demonstrator from Hawaii, there were the most beautiful notecards made with photos of her tropical garden. I was in awe, to say the least!! As I have said before, I can kill an air fern so I don't do much in the way of gardening. But, I have some flowers that are pretty much self-sufficient so they bloom every year :) In my front yard, I have 4 rather large lilac bushes. A couple of them are actually more like lilac trees. They bloom heavily every other year - maybe that is normal, I just am not real savvy about that stuff. So, last year was a good year for them and I took a few pictures. I was playing around with my new camera and did some close-ups and had a bunch of fun.

Anyway, I decided that I would see what I could come up with for notecards using my photos. I worked on them for awhile yesterday and planned to post them but evidently Blogger was having issues and I couldn't start a new post. Thankfully, they finally resolved the issue a few hours ago so I could show you these:

I used Garden Green for the card base and Certainly Celery Designer Series Paper for the first layer. I started with a rectangle that measured 4 1/4 x 5 11/16-inches. I had to make it slightly wider than the card to make the scallops come out right. But it ended up pretty much the exact size of the card front so - perfect!! I ran the 3 1/2 x 5-inch piece of Elegant Eggplant through my Big Shot (you know you want one!). I cut my photos to 3 1/4x3 1/4-inches and layered them onto Whisper White 3 3/8 x 3 3/8-inches. I attached them using snail adhesive but attached the sentiment and it's layers using Stampin' Dimensionals. The photos are actually all taken from the same bush (or tree). Here is a closer look:

I wish we had "smell-e-blog" so you can enjoy the full experience!! LOL :) They truly do make the day fragrant when they are in full bloom. Pity they don't last longer - like maybe all summer. It seems that just as they reach their full potential, the blossoms begin to die off. Oh well, that is why we have cameras, right? And thank goodness we can put those photos on our hard drive to print over and over!

So, once I had these babies finished, I thought they needed a place to stay. So, I got out the ruler and did some measuring to come up with a box for them:

I thought it best to carry the theme of the cards to the box top so I would remember what was inside - I do have hair color issues, if you know what I mean :) I used left over pieces from the photos and stamped the same sentiment from the Elements of Style stamp set. I know - I know - that stamp set again!! I'm just sayin' - it is a must have set!!! There are just so many cards that little sentiment is perfect for. Here is a look at the total package:

The complete list of supplies:

Stamp Set: Elements of Style

Cardstock: Garden Green, Elegant Eggplant, Whisper White, Certainly Celery Designer Series Paper

Ink: Elegant Eggplant

Accessories: Big Shot with Square Lattice Impressions Folder, Scallop Trim Border Punch, Stampin' Dimensionals

These were so fun to make. I took several photos of my purple irises last week and they will be my next project like this. It really makes me feel like I am part of the card because it showcases something that I love!! And after I move, I will have the photos to always look back on. A little nostalgia is always good for the soul. 'Til next time......

Happy Stamping,

Laurie

Remember to get your mammogram!