A Grand Experiment

I have a black thumb. I tend to either kill my plants from over watering and only by luck last year was I able to grow tomatoes, basil and egg plant in my front garden. So why did I want to try a bigger vegetable garden this year...and plant it at the end of June? I am not sure but Chris was actually on board with the idea and had the idea of doing more of a container garden then digging up our grass.

So one day last month, we decided to take on this project. The good thing about it was that we got all the vegetable plants on sale because we planted it so late. The bad thing? We spent A LOT of money on soil!! According to my husband's research, this is a "one time" expense and we just add stuff to the soil to bring the nutrients back next year.

We added cloth to the bottom so that we wouldn't have to weed. Wish me luck that it works because weeding is really not my thing.

We really wanted to get soil especially for a container garden but when you plant things at the last minute, you don't find what you want. How do I know? We went to FIVE stores to search for it but to no avail. Note to self: if we decide to do more containers next year, (and it is looking good for that) plant the stuff earlier!!

Here is what it looked like after planting. All you experienced gardeners will tell me I planted too much and planted it too close together. Do you remember I said in the beginning I haven't a clue at what I am doing?

Here is what things look like as of the beginning of this week. I let this cucumber grow and picked it today!! I decided to put cages on my pickling cucumbers because they were overtaking the garden. I know, this is not a common thing. However, at the advice of my friend Jen who has a PHENOMENAL veggie garden, I used tomato cages to prop the pickling cucumbers up and will see what happens. She says she does this and gets bumper crops of this type of cucumber every year. If it is successful, I hope to try making pickles with Charlotte this fall.

I planted my eggplant in a pot because I didn't have room in the garden. I had to plant Japanese eggplant because the store where I purchased the plants didn't have the Italian plants. I picked two today and am hoping they taste good. I love a good eggplant dish!!

We planted three kinds of tomatoes-cherry, beef steak and plum. They seem to be growing but I noticed today that the leaves at the bottom of two are a bit yellow. We have gotten a lot of rain and I am not sure the plants are loving it. We had a bumper crop of cherry tomatoes last year and I am hoping that it turns out well. Again, I know if I planted these earlier I would have some to taste already!!

Last but not least, here is my zucchini. When I planted the garden originally, I thought I had one zucchini and one yellow squash plant but they were mislabeled. Instead I have two zucchini plants. Good thing we like zucchini!! I picked two out of the garden this week. One zucchini was HUGE and had large seeds. I know now to pick them when they are a bit smaller. They tend to taste better.

So far I am enjoying watching everything grow. I intend to start all my veggies from seed next year with a grow light or on my new garden window that I am getting when we redo my kitchen. (That is hopefully happening soon but that is another post!!) Chris and I also discussed buying a few more containers and cutting down some trees to shed more light in the backyard. This is coming from a man who doesn't really even like vegetables!!

Happy Saturday!!

Nora

More Baby Cards!!

On my last post I stated that I had created multiple baby cards using a similar card design. I thought I would do a quick share with you.

I created the elephant using my Silhouette die cut machine. Isn't he the CUTEST? I loved him so much that I used it on every card I created for baby!!

Here is a close up of the little guy!!

I created this card with a slightly different background. Instead of layering paper, I chose to stamp pink polka dots and finish it off with a heart border. I don't like this as much as the first card but it works.

The last card was for my friend whom had a baby boy. I I think I like this the best. I am partial to blue!!

Have a great day!!

Nora

Thank You Card and Other Stuff!!

Once again I have dropped the ball on my blog. It is such a shame because I have been making a ton of projects but the photographing and putting blogging about them is extremely time consuming. I will get there, though.

For my first card, I created a thank you for my Aunt who LOVES smiley faces. I used my Silhouette to cut out the smiley and had fun with the colors. I think I will make a few more of these using some scraps and tuck them away for later.

I created my second card for my nephew's birthday this weekend. I really didn't know what I wanted to keep the top of the cupcake simple so I just used some number stickers.

I used my Silhouette machine to cut out the ticket and a Paper Trey Ink stamp for the cup cake. I wish I photographed the card a little better, though. The 13 is NOT crooked in real life!!

This third card I created for a friend that just had a baby. Isn't it sweet? I had stamped the bear and colored it in ages ago. I just cut it out using a Paper Trey Ink tag die to make it complete. I actually created multiple baby cards on this day, all using a similar design but die cut. I will post those on a future date, though!!

My last post today was done for Scrapjazz.com in March. The challenge was to pick a photo and create a layout on what you don't see in the photo. The journaling was about the horrific day we had with my dog Zach whom I nicknamed Stinky. I created the banners behind the photo with some Queen and Company tape and some pretty patterned paper.

I hope you enjoyed my post. See you soon!!

Nora

A Short Cut to Thank You Notes

I cannot believe how fast this month is flying by!! This week is school vacation and I have been looking forward to this for the last month. After this there are only two months of school left. I cannot wait for summer!!!

I am going to make a confession. I am a card maker but I almost never make my own thank you notes. Usually it is because I have too many to make around holidays or my birthday and so I wind up going out and buying them. I was determined NOT to do this anymore and had to figure out a way to make my own cards but make it easy on myself. Here is what I came up with.

First I bought some plain notecards for $1.50 from Michaels. Yes, I could have just sent these but what is the fun of that? I am a HUGE fan of orange and knew that I could just doctor these cards to make them my own using supplies I already had on hand.

First I went through my patterned papers scraps and die cut a bunch of shapes using Paper Trey Ink's limitless layers 1 3/4" circle dies.

 I then went through my stamp pads and picked some colors that would match the die cuts I had created.

Next I chose some stamps, stamped the images and then die cut the stamps to make the focal point of my card. Here is a few of the finished cards:

The thing I liked about this project the most was that I really only spent $1.50 to create this cards because I used things I already had on hand. I love when that happens. I think that I am going to make some sets of these to give away as gifts.

I just wanted to post a close up of one of the cards too!!

This wasn't the only project that I had to make this month. My father was quite ill so I made a card and sent a care package to cheer him up.

I used a combination of Echo Park and My Mind's Eye products to create this. My daughter said it looked too much like a birthday card but who said get well cards can't be festive too?

That is all for today!! Happy Sunday!!

Nora

Did you miss me?

Hello everyone!! I haven't posted in exactly two months and I feel bad. I was doing so well!!

Things have been crazy around here and I wasn't doing too many projects. I lost my mojo somewhere along the line. I am back though and wanted to share a few of the things I have been doing.

I had a few birthdays last month so I created a few cards. The first was for my friend, Donna.

This card is a combination of old and new supplies. I used Aqua Mist card stock and patterned paper from Paper Trey Ink, as well as their houndstooth background. LOVE the pink on pink!! I then stamped the sentiment on a Making Memories die cut and finished the card off with a Prima butterfly.

Here is a close put of the detail. It is such a simple card but love how it came out!!

I liked the design of the first card so much that I created a second card that was based off it using similar supplies. Instead of the label, I used punch and added a button.

The next two cards I created were for my cousin and a request of my friend to make a card to give to someone. I basically CASED the cards off this card design by Dawn McVey-the card maker I want to be when I grow up. I LOVE her stuff!!! If you haven't ever been to her blog, set aside some time because her creations are fantastic!!

Both of these cards I created were for males. I used Paper Trey Ink stamps and my Silhouette machine to created the die cuts.

Here is the card with the matching envelope. I love this color scheme so much that I used it again on the card below.

I chose to only layer two stars for this card and stamp a cupcake on the second one. I hate making the same exact card twice so this is how I mixed it up.

This last card I created I made for another friend. I used almost all scraps to complete it too!!

This was for a challenge over at Scrapjazz.com. It was to create a card with a window. I die cut a scalloped circle into the green card stock, stamped some Paper Trey Ink birthday sentiments from various sets onto it and layered it over the "It's your day" image. The only thing I would change about this card is the ribbon. I only had a small piece in this shade of pink and I can see the cutting on the edge of the bow isn't so hot. Oh well, it is home made!!!

Thank you for browsing today. Have a great weekend!!

Nora