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7/25/2014

Square Pansies

Good evening Friends and welcome. Been a busy day with an early start to shop at Costco for some metal shelving. We've had some ratty old wooden bookcase type shelving that came from various garage sales, and DH decided we should get some metal shelving units that we had seen at Costco. We had bought a couple of these a few months ago to organize some of the garage items that all of us have. So this afternoon has been putting shelves together, moving items off the old ratty shelves so that the unit could be pulled away, the new nice clean shelves put in place, and the storage items replaced. And trying to keep like items together on a shelf - even though they won't stay that way long!

Here's a card finished last night.

The flower squares were salvaged from old greeting cards that I've been sifting through in the cleanup project. Simply cut these out, shaded with copics to make fairly pale flowers a bit more colorful. Lined the edges with a black spica pen. Created the punch out mats with plain ole white Canson #90 paper, using DI colors of Mowed Lawn, Salty Ocean and Dusty Concord. Then spritzed the sponged paper with some gold Tattered Angel spray, let that dry, and punched with a square punch that fit with the pansy square shape. The card should have been a bit wider & this would have looked better. White card stock is WorldWin textured paper, partial embossing on top and bottom with the favorite C/B dots folder, leaving a center space for the squares. Used the Scor-buddy to do the embossed lines shown. Easy-Peasy.

Smile sentiment is from Memento dies found at Hobby Lobby, done with a black snippet.

As promised, took some snapshots of the front porch swing I sometimes mention and the opposite end of the porch where we have the requisite rocking chairs so beloved by us Southerners.



- the opposite end of the porch, and yes we do sit in the chairs to rock & watch the world go by.
Seeing these pictures made me realize how much this porch needs a good clean, but that will have to wait for cooler weather.  The geranium by the front door is over 4 years old. It lives in the garage in winter, where it is forgotten for weeks at a time All I do is clip it back drastically when we take it off the porch. Never expect it to survive, but it has.  The angel wing begonia at the far end has managed to last 3 years so far.


- on the back porch - which is a small part of the back deck which is enclosed by screening - there is a pretty white hibiscus that is 2 years old, a gift from our neighbor. Has had some wonderful big blossoms this summer, and still has some buds to bloom. The lovely Easter lily was from Sweetie for Mother's Day last year. When it blooms, the fragrance is blissful. We kept these 2 plants the past winter, again trimmed back aggressively. Not sure we'll try this year, as the dirt is full of ants. Anybody know how to eliminate the ants before storing for the winter? Don't want to infest the garage with them, as they will migrate into the house. We've tried putting some ant traps on top of the dirt, but the ants seem to love it. When watering, you can see the little critters just scrambling up the branches from the dirt.

Hope you enjoyed the pictures; now you can picture where we could sit, drink some good ole cold ice tea, and just swing away! Thanks for your visit, and come again when you can set a spell! Happy Weekend. Hugs & Blessings.




36 comments:

  1. I think I need to come visit you and just sit in one of the rockers or swing and spend the rest of my life watching the grass (and pretty plants) grow! Looks so inviting!

    Also love your card! The recycling of the flowers is great and also love that great big "smile"!

    Lynn

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  2. Beautiful pansies Mary ... such pretty colors.

    Love your front porch ... that swing looks inviting! :) Loll xx

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  3. Great color combinations and gorgeous pansies, this makes a beautiful and awesome card. Your homely piccies are a delight to view on this dullo Saturday. ♥xx
    ♥aNNie The Journey is the Start

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  4. I love all Flowers and plants but pansies are one of the top ten or so. You did a spot on job of making them shine. The made me smile to be sure. Love the porches.

    Fort those ants - get so food grade Diatamateous earth (A fine white powder) and mix it with some honey and corn meal and put it in the pot. The ants will eat it and die. Just make sure no pets can get at it and eat it. It will make them sick. Also avoid breathing the dust from it.

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  5. Pretty card! Love pansies...we've given up on growing though, the rabbits eat them.

    Your house and porch look so pretty! I'm a big fan of porches. We have a very small screened in porch out in back of our house, and I spend a lot of time sitting out on my porch. reading, crafting, and sometimes chatting with the neighbors...Our small yard and porch aren't very private, and not much scenery to look at...but I still enjoy it.

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  6. Mary, your porch is wonderful - so pretty! It's a very happy place. How clever of you to up cycle snippets from old greeting cards. I love how you enhanced the flowers. The smile die cut is perfectly placed.

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  7. A really pretty card Mary, I love it.
    I also Love, Love, Love, your stunning Porch.
    Every time we come home from visiting relatives who live south of Philadelphia I always say if we had the weather I would love to do similar out the front of our house. So far this year we could have benefited from a Porch to sit and swing on.
    Enjoy a "swinging" weekend
    Hugs

    Patricia xx

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  8. Beautiful card and beautiful flowers! Love your porch :). Very beautiful.

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  9. Love the bold colours against the white Mary - stunning card. It's lovely to see your porches and where you relax.
    Put a large pot inside a tub, fill the large pot with water, then submerge the potted plant. The ants then can't stay in the pot with the plant, but you can capture and kill the ants as they escape.
    Blessings
    Maxine

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  10. Oh you lucky thing having that porch? I could just see you sitting there rocking away. We just don't build house properly here in the UK. Having lived in other places round the world I wish We could build a house using all the different bits I liked about my other houses, it would be one fab house/home. Love your card very effective. Enjoy your weekend of sorting out. You will find wonderful treasures that you had forgotten about. Hazel xx

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  11. That is a great bit of recycling on your lovely card Mary! I love your front porch and would love to sit and reflect in one of those rocking chairs! Sadly here in the UK people do not have front porches in the same way you do, I guess maybe our rather changeable weather has something to do with it! Love yours though. Hugs, Anne xx

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  12. great CAS card love the embossing and backgrounds you created-love the photos and your porch looks very inviting-we get loads of ants in the garden and some come in the house but the dog eats them!
    Carol x

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  13. Great card Mary and I love your porch, especially the rocking chairs!

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  14. Awesome card!! You have a very nice porch.

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  15. Your card is just beautiful Momma Mary! I love those pansies and glad that you rescued them to use on another card. Your background of distress inks looks awesome and I don't think your card is to small for the pansies, I think it is just right!! I also love, love, love your front porch!!! You have a nice long one like my aunt in SC and I was sitting on her rockers out on it every chance I got while we visited. lol So when I come down, I will be on yours too. Love the swings as well. You have a beautiful porch Momma Mary! Try mixing up water and some dish detergent and spraying the flower foliage and dirt. That might get rid of the ants. I know it gets rid of the spider mites. Hugs, Brenda

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  16. This card came out lovely and I don't think it needs to be any wider. Perfect as is. You have a fantastic place to sit and rock and watch the world go by. I see you also have a nice green thumb. Enjoy the weekend.

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  17. Lovely pansy card, great recycling, and I like how you coloured the backing mats.
    Your porch looks a lovely place to sit and while away an afternoon chatting or reading. Thank you for sharing the photos.
    Jean x

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  18. I love those pretty pansies Mary and pretty embossed dots in the background. Thanks for the photos of your porch - I would love to come and swing with you. x

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  19. Beautiful card I just love pansies and what a nice porch to sit and relax :)

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  20. Lovely card!
    Your porch looks so inviting!

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  21. Oh, you have a wonderful porch with a rocking chair Mary, my grandparents had one too, some day I'll also have one! Even though I'm living in the Northern Hemisphere. The Hibiscus is so beautiful, and the card is a super upcycling, it's a gorgeous card.


    Warm hugs
    Maarit

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  22. I forgot to write, I use Light products, like fruit squash or fruit suryp, to get rid of the ants in my plant lot. I haven't tried Coka Cola Zero yet, but it might work too.

    Try with a small amount at first, the plant might not survive it.


    Warm hugs
    Maarit

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  23. Pretty card Mary, so simple, so effective. And thank you for sharing your pics with us. Now I will be able to visualise you sitting out on the porch. Hugs Christine xx

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  24. Mary, omg your porch, chairs and plants are so inviting....and I love the pansy card, they are one of my fav flowers.

    Hugs
    Chris B

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  25. Your card is beautiful, Mary!! Love the pansies and the lo of the card - looks great!!!

    Can I come and rock in one of those chairs and enjoy your lovely plants??

    Hugz

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  26. What a gorgeous card, Mary!! The flowers look so beautiful!! You shaded them perfectly!! And wow, your porch is gorgeous!! I have a "See Rock City" birdhouse, too!! Love the swing and rockers!! Have a great day :)

    Lisa
    A Mermaid's Crafts

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  27. Hi Mary I am loving this beautiful card the embossed background and the flowers look glorious. Mary the photos of your porch are lovely it looks like a place where you can just sit and relax, pure heaven, lol.
    hugs
    lorraine x

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  28. The pansies are just beautiful!! What a pretty card!!!
    As for the porch, I can describe it in a single word - "blissful!" I absolutely love it, especially the ceiling fan!!! Wish I lived closer, you'd have a porch-sittin' buddy for life :)

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  29. Your home and grounds look so beautiful and inviting, Mary! I love brick homes and I love porches! Thank you for sharing!! It's so lovely to put a space with a face. I now see why sometimes a cool day and those welcoming chairs on that porch win out over crafting!! And what a way you have with those plants to have them last so long!!

    I see that you have been crafting and still cleaning and purging. This card is really CAS and gorgeous! Great eye to recycle and update those pansies and I'm loving that "smile" die very much!! Hugs, Darnell

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  30. What beautiful pansies! I love how you doctored them up and made them your own. Thanks for sharing your porch! I'd love to sit there with you and watch the world go by. About the ants...We use Terro when we get ants. It's a liquid that they like to eat. It draws the whole colony, which is a pain in the kitchen, but they all die pretty quick. DH gets it at Ace Hardware I think.

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  31. beautiful card Mary, I like the floral images and the embossing.Your front porch looks fabulous.
    Kevin xx

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  32. Some plants just seem to attract ants. We keep ours in "potty trays" like yours, and that way, it prevents them from colonizing inside the dirt. I notice that certain vegetables also attract ants. It seems mostly to be the flowers. Possibly it is a symbiotic relationship where the plants actually do better with the ants. Never-the-less, they are a nuisance, aren't they? Ants are our number 1 problem here. The plant is gorgeous!

    And so is your pretty pansy card. I enjoy recycling, and glad to see you do, too. love you, de

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  33. Lovely card. I love pansies. Lovely photos very inviting, wish I could join you.

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  34. Hi Mary

    I'm afraid I missed a few of your lovely posts lately. LOVE the pansy card here but more of all I love your front porch! I don't know what it is about the UK - folk seem to disappear indoors so quickly. They'll sit out in the back garden but sitting in the front just isn't the 'done thing'. That's such a shame as I'm sure it's so much more interesting and sociable. And as for your swing, sigh. Parsnip is packing his little haversack ready to leave home!!

    Hugs, Di xx

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  35. OH MY GOODNESS...Now that is one fabulous porch. I love the swing and teh vignette around it and the wonderful rockers!

    I loved to see the rockers everywhere when we were in the South. Such a wonderful inviting, relaxing look.

    Must be so nice to sit out and watch the world go by...chat with the neighbours and enjoy your gardens.

    PS I like the card too! lol

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  36. You definitely have a lovely spot to sit and watch the world go by. The card is very pretty. I like how you embossed only a portion of the background. And the mats you created for the pansies are lovely.

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