Dawn and I shopped the scrapbook store last week and I bought the Memory box die. It is called the reverse butterfly collage. Here is the link   http://memoryboxco.com/search.asp   It makes such an easy and elegant card. Sorry about this link. It takes you to Memory Box, but you have to type in Reverse Butterfly collage.
Last week Linda F, Emily & I got together and made a bunch of them. We used the 'smooch' background. I am not sure what it is really called. There is a video, but generally it is a watercolor background. We used a craft sheet and 'smooched' 3 colors of distress ink on the sheet. Then we spritzed it. Sometimes one color at a time works better. Using a 4x6 piece of transparency, we picked up the colors and applied them wherever we wanted them on the background. 

                       Had fun with these, and as you can see, the dp looks great for the backgrounds.
Thanks for looking....
Mary

Today is a great day for blogging. It is early in the morning, but it looks overcast and cloudy. I chose blogging over baking. Good day for that too, only with blogging you don't have to do dishes!
Yes, speaking of dishes.. we had company, family for the last ten days. I love having Dawn as she and I craft or 'die cut' our little hands out, and as a bonus I get to enjoy my grandson Johnathon. 

             Yes, we are related, we both have a shaker card obsession!
              Dawn did all these cards with cute designer papers, 

Hopefully, no one sees these cards before they get them!

Love this collage sheet by Maja Design. It is called Coffee in the Arbour. My Macaroons would be perfect with with this theme!

wish I had some left....

Thanks for looking!

 Baking has always been fun for me, except maybe, the dishes. So Sunday I made a couple sweet 'treats' for my family. Sent some to Diana, some for us, and Emily got the last Macaroon. Pinterest is my friend even though I have hundreds of old cookbooks. Just wish I had had the little pan that she used. It is small, tart size, and the bottoms remove. I think it is a little like an angel food cake pan. Check out her link. They were good, maybe best for 2 days.

These came from http://www.handletheheat.com/no-bake-smores-mini-cheesecakes/
So next one is French Macaroons. These turned out so yummy, I ate one for breakfast, lunch and they were ummm..The icing is the meringue mixture that we made for the s'mores. The only difference is the butter in the Macaroons. Just in case I get side-tracked, (easy for me), I will give you the link. Be sure and watch the video. The Macaroons are easier than you think! http://www.finecooking.com/videos/how-to-make-classic-french-macarons.aspx
See the cute little 'domed' tops. Actually the white ones were wonderful, but the 'dome' wasn't quite like it should look.  The Pink ones are Raspberry.

I am so far behind! I am behind on card making, blogging, and even house cleaning. You have seen furry friends on my previous post? Yes, house cleaning is a 'restricted' word here! Since I am so late with the promised post here are a couple new cards.

These are stamps and die cut from Neat & Tangled. Such an easy and pretty idea. The words "So very blessed" and 'be joyful always" are on the same stamp sheet. Here is the link ....http://www.neatandtangled.com/

                                                 Can't show off Gracie without showing my Zoeie. This is my 13 year old girl. She was a rescue and I said those famous words "If you can't find a home for her I will take her". Yes, be careful of those words! 
Tomorrow I will add new card ideas!
                                              Thanks,
                                                Mary 

We found a new thing to do!  Dont' you just love it when you get excited about a new project or technique or stamp set?? These are pocket letters. I've done swaps with altered books, Atc's, & chunky books... . Wow! when we did chunky books ( a have about 8-10), we had to make a 4x4 page for each person that signed up. Several time we had over 100 people! I'm not complaining, the hostess is the one who had to assemble and create the cover for all of us! The pocket letters are like little Atc's. They fit in a baseball card holder. They are decorated art on the front with 'bits' of goodies behind. Here is a link . http://janettelane.blogspot.com/2015/02/what-are-pocket-letters.html Looks like fun!

Here are my pockets. For most all of the pockets I used stamps, both cling & clear from Power Poppy. The flowers are gorgeous. Take a look at her blog.On June 1st she will be releasing new images.. http://powerpoppy.com/   The word stamps are new from Our Daily bread designs. The set is called the God Quotes. Since I do cards for a couple churches, I use scripture often. Here is a link....  https://www.ourdailybreaddesigns.com/

Love this vase of Azaleas from Power Poppy. The 'carded' ribbon & the word cards go in pockets behind the images.

 

Oh Oh, another tiny shaker card. Wish the light had co operated!

This is from the Countryside bouquet...from Power Poppy. So Pretty.
Thanks again.....