Thursday, June 27, 2013

For Your New Nest....


Hello again,
It is once again raining in Seattle....though nice weather is supposedly on its way for Friday and next week....it may even hit 80 degrees which is warm for Seattle.  I will be excited if it really is sunny and will definitely be outdoors to enjoy it with my little one.

Because of the rain we are inside this afternoon and I decided to play with a new Paper Sweeties stamp set that I recently won via a challenge.  It is called "Sending Springtime".  A big thank you to Debbie of Paper Sweeties for the prize!  I love my new stamps!  I am linking this up to The Shabby Tea Room Week #172 - Summer Breeze Challenge once again.  Here is the inspiration photo:

This week Starr is our creative host and she has chosen the theme of 'Summer Breeze' along with this beautiful photo for inspiration and Starr asks that we create a card or project inspired by the COLORS IN THE PHOTO AND ADD A FABRIC ELEMENT!


My fabric element is the lace piece at the top of the card.  This photo also gives you  a little peek at the inside of the card....I stamped the birdhouse in pink and added a white scalloped mat.  I made this card to have on hand for when new neighbors move into our neighborhood.  I love the sentiment!

Thanks for taking a look at my card.

If you are interested I am also going to share some photos of my house/garden on this post for a friend who wanted to see some photos of the clematis etc. that I grow in my yard.  Please feel free to skip to the end if you want. :)

I live in a 1920's charmer that I bought when it was practically falling down while I was still single and in my early 30's.  The house is very similar to the one that my Grandparents owned and means the world to me.

There was nothing here but dandelions when I bought it and EVERYTHING needed to be fixed inside and out!!!  The day that I painted the front of the house at least 20 people stopped by to thank me for buying it and fixing it up as apparently it had been the "eyesore" of the neighborhood for many, many years.  I have learned a lot since I purchased it 16 years ago and when I married my sweet Stuart in the year 2000 he moved from his property to mine and joined me in working on it. 

If you asked me what my favorite hobbies are I would say gardening and paper crafting, with hiking in the mountains as a close third - especially if it involves a waterfall of which there are MANY in Washington State.  I spend time in my garden everyday even if it is just for a few minutes and the kids in the neighborhood are in and out of my house all day long in the summer and throughout the year which means the chairs in the front and back yards get a lot of use!  So fun to have lovely neighbors!      

 The picture below is the front of my little saltbox house...and the garden that I have cultivated over the years...it is all perennials and comes back each year with no help from me!  I love that!!!  This photo was taken in May before some of the roses bloomed but it shows the clematis vines in bloom:
This is a Nelly Moser Clematis - one of my favorites!  I don't have a close-up of the other one and cannot remember the name of it either! :)
Here is the view as you walk into our backyard....


I added these sap buckets to the fence about 8 years ago and plant annuals in them each year.  This photo was taken just after filling them this year and the flowers inside of them are now at least 3x this size and trail down the fence beautifully! 


Another clematis....

One of my newer "Knock-out" roses...they bloom and bloom and bloom and need little maintenance unlike the majority of my hybrid teas which were not in bloom yet when I took this photo.


Love this rose - it was a gift from a friend when I bought my house.  I  would have to look at the tag to tell you its name though.  I love that it is usually one of the first to bloom each year!

One of my many shade tolerant perennials...these flowers open up in the morning and fall off in the evening and new ones bloom the next day.  Isn't God miraculous in his creations!

Well that is it for this post....I didn't want to post too many photos though I have more LOL!  If you are still here - thanks for bearing with me on this long and picture-filled post!  And if you are curious if I grow any food - yes I do....blueberries and raspberries and a few veggies and herbs too.
Hugs,
:) Jill




17 comments:

  1. Just a gorgeous card, Jill! Love the stamp set from Paper Sweeties...so CUTE! Beautiful paper, lace, and flowers! And, thank you for showing all the pretty photos of your flowers! I can tell you really enjoy gardening!:-)

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  2. Adorable....love your sweet card Jill! Beautiful lace and twine:) How could I skip your gorgeous garden..wow its so pretty,I dream of having a garden like this. Thanks for joining us again in The shabby Tea Room!

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  3. Hi, Jill! What a delightful treasure awaiting me on your blog this morning - a sweet, beautiful card, and these amazing photos of your perennial garden. I am jealous as none of those plants will grow here in central Florida. So the next best thing is to enjoy your garden! So beautifully manicured - and the perfect size! Thank you, too, for sharing all the photos of your hanging annuals on the fence! Lovely colors everywhere! Your photography is marvelous - thank you for sharing! I have become your newest follower, hugs, de
    {Creative Smiles}

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  4. Such a pretty card! Love the way you drew inspiration from those lovely quilts! I had so much fun this morning meandering through your garden. You have such a green thumb. I love your clematis, so vibrant. I have bought at least 3 of them over the years and they NEVER grew. I still have the trellis they each game with. I think it may get too hot or something for them. Do you do any herbs or veggies? I will share some pics next week as mine are growing good now after the delay in the sunshine. Now, we have a heatwave! Thanks for sharing!

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  5. OMGOSH, Jill! LOVE LOVE LOVE your card! The birdhouse and birdies are so Pretty but I also Adore the embossing and the flower stamp and the Gorgeous twine! And your house is just Lovely!, looks like a home filled with LOVE!

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  6. Adorable card but your sweet home is just so cute!!! Thank you for sharing all the photos, it is always nice to see where your blog friends live and what makes them creative.

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  7. Sweet card Jill. I'm a little homesick seeing your beautiful garden - miss the lush green of the PNW but not the wet weather.

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  8. Love those beautiful birds and their house! Any new neighbor would think they struck gold living next to you! Your home and garden look like they are the heart of the neighborhood.

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  9. Such a beautiful card, Jill. I love the vintage feel and the wonderful design layout.

    You have an amazing garden. I aspire to have a yard that looks as beautiful as yours, but until I can hire a gardener who can make that dream come true, I'll have to be happy with my pitiful yard. LOL

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  10. Oh, your gardens and little home are so beautiful, Jill! We have a small home, too. We're working so hard to fix it up, but everything costs so much money; and it seems, the minute we finally fix one thing another needs replaced. Sigh. Eventually, we'll get it painted and back in shape. Oh! I'd love to know the name of that last shade tolerant bloom, too. We have lots of shade in our backyard, and I have the hardest time finding things that bloom well in such.

    Your card is ever so sweet, too! I just love all the textures and layers and perfect, little, well-though-out details!

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  11. Oh my gosh Jill! Your home and garden are beautiful! The photos of the flowers are beyond gorgeous! Sounds like a wonderful place to live. Nothing better than kids in and out of a home! Truly the best ! Sounds like a lot of love went into your home. TFS.
    Congrats on you win of the PS and your card is adorable!
    How fun to have bought the house when you were still single. Also nice that Stuart was there to help with a lot of the work! I'm sure you know Exactly everything he's worked on . Hugs!

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  12. Jill beautiful house, garden and your creations :) I LOVE YOUR style !! Lovley mix shabby and vintage :)xoxo Aneta

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  13. I can't imagine your house being anything but charming and the love you put into it has surely shown! Your garden is amazing!

    Your card is absolutely sweet as can be! Love that PS set! Thanks for sharing your talents!

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  14. Beautiful flowers Jill and such a sweet card! Love the fancy lace trim!

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  15. Swoon! The photos of your beautiful flowers have me longing for my very own backyard, even though I would not even know where to begin to create as beautiful of a garden as yours. When the day comes though, I hope I'll be able to use these gorgeous photos as inspiration...All the flowers are just so very lovely!

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  16. Just found your blog from your video and love it. You are such an inspiration. You have to do videos not only of your crafts but of your home and garden. Your home seems so warm and inviting. Thank you for sharing your garden. Ana

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  17. You, dear girl, have a green thumb extraordinaire!! This photo diary made me drool!! Hugs, Darnell

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Hello Friends! Thanks so very much for visiting Greenwood Girl Cards! I enjoy reading your comments!
Crafty Hugs,
: ) Jill