The Ugly Tree

Ok, where are my GREEN THUMB gardeners?? I NEED YOU!!! We have this horrible tree in our front yard, I don't even call it a Pine Tree - it is affectionately (or not) known as The Ugly Tree!!! So, this is a picture of the front of our house & the left side of the stairs. This tree is atrocious and NOTHING will grow there because of all the pine needles. Sooooooooooooooo, I need your advice!! What can we do with this??? It costs too much $$ to chop it down and rip out the stump, so that isn't an option this year, and I REALLY like the shade it gives us and the privacy. It blocks the mid-day sun from the deck. Should I case it in, and put decorative rocks in there? Is there ANYTHING that will grow under a pine tree??

My goal this Spring and Summer is to make the front of our house have more "curb appeal". I worked really hard on the right side of the yard, and it isn't so bad now. There are 2 trees on the right side, a Kelsey Crab Apple tree and a Nan King Cherry bush. I made a flower bed behind the trees and planted a shrub of some sort that gets pretty little flowers (LOL), some Lily of the Valley, some plants my neighbour lady gave me (can't remember what they are called but they survived the winter, so you can't go wrong with that!!!) and some ground cover stuff that gets pretty little yellow flowers (Golden stone or something?!?!) We'll see if that grows!!! LOL

BUT, my issue is this Ugly Tree and the area underneath it!!! Any hints? ideas? words of advice???

Binky Crafts decoupage kits

Very cool!!!! I ordered some Daisy & Dandelion stamps from Binky Crafts in Malta (yes, I had to look it up on a World map!!). I have to thank Lorraine for hooking me up cuz these stamps are CUTE!!! As I was looking through the store, I saw these Decoupage kits - I was curious so I ordered them. They are really cute, die cut pieces that you layer with pop dots. There is no stamping on this first card because the elephant is quite big. I used a yellow card base I got from Michael's ages ago (SEE, I AM using up things I have!!!) and some DP from Doodlebug Designs (really glittery). The yellow ribbon is from PTI, and the charm says LAUGH (sorry it's so dark, it was a really gloomy day when I took this photo). I wish I had taken a side view of this so you could see the decoupage layers on the elephant (I think his name is Pickles?!?!) There are 4 layers on his face, and 2 layers on his feet.

This little guy is Onions, isn't he adorable?!?! The sentiment is from Simon Says Stamp, and the card base is from Amuse (thanks Glenda!!)

Both are very simple cards - as I was just "testing" out the decoupage thing......I have a card in the works with the actual Daisy and Dandelion stamps so I should have one for you in the next few days!!!!

I need a Moo-tini

Here is a card I made using one of the Divine Bovines from Squigglefly. The sentiment was printed on my computer. I made this awhile ago when I had had a BAD day, and any sort of alcoholic bevvy would have been WELCOMED!!! LOL

I used the googly eyes with eyelashes that Holly had sent to me (THANKS!!) cuz they fit these cows SO perfectly!!!! The little martini charm I got at Michael's AGES ago and finally got to use it!!! The card base is a pre-printed one from Michael's too!!!!

Thanks for popping by!!! Have a great week!!!
Chris

INKY IMPRESSIONS.......versatile!!

Hey everyone!! I finally finished this card - I've been working on it for awhile, I just haven't had much time in my craft room but I finished it up bright and early this morning!!!! I am SOOOOO pleased with how it turned out!!!

As you all know, Inky Impressions is a BRAND NEW rubber stamp company and Nicole is getting ready to release her first set of stamps VERY QUICKLY!!!! She sent me a sample stamp to try out and rate on its quality, and I have to say, it is TOP NOTCH!!! The red rubber is really deeply etched and it inks SOOO nicely!!! They come on EZ Mount so they are ready to INK!!! The stamp she sent me is LiLi colouring Easter Eggs, and since I was DYING to make another card using an Inky Impressions stamp, I thought I would see how versatile I could make it!!

So, I coloured her, cut her out, and cut off the Easter Eggs, paint brush and paint cans. I wanted to try to use my Flower Soft so I made some little flowers on wire (still need to work on this technique but not bad for a first time!) for her to hold, instead of the paintbrush. I added Flower Soft at her feet too. She is also holding a large Easter Egg, so I added a tiny Prima flower to look like she was holding it. THIS is what I came up with:

What do you think???

I coloured her with Copics, added some sakura gel pen (stardust) and atyou Spica pens to give her some sparkle! Those EYES just scream for some SPARKLE, don't ya think??

It is possible to take Holiday/Seasonal stamps and make them into whatever you want!! You can mask them, cut parts off, add parts, cover parts....the options are endless!!!!! If I can do it, so can YOU!!!

Here is a close up of LiLi:


Thanks for popping by!!! Have a great Sunday!! And for my Canadian friends, enjoy your Holiday Monday tomorrow!!!!! I am soooo happy to have a long weekend!!!! Tim and I are going to go do something fun today - a hike and a picnic with Brick. Brick loves our family walks - especially when he gets to be off leash!!!! So I better run and get ready!!!