Texas Tuesday - Wildflower Season

Spring has sprung in the Hill Country. We didn't have the winter rains we needed to have a super wildflower crop like last year, but we should have some colorful scenery here and there. I decided to devote this week's Texas Tuesday to the flowers we see in this area. I got fired up and created 2 cards for you this week. No stories this week, just card descriptions…so here goes.

The first card is a bit whimsical because as we all know bluebonnets do not grow on trees. But I thought it was a cute idea for a card. I used the large tree and small bluebonnet stamps from Deadbeat Designs. The card base is a Bazzill color with a lil texture. The other cardstock is scraps from my stash. (I am a hoarder when it comes to paper. I honestly have to make myself throw away a paper scrap. They sometimes come in very handy.) The tree is inked with memento Rich Cocoa, the bluebonnets are done in Memento Danube Blue and Cottage Ivy. I put a few white highlights on the flowers with a Sharpie poster paint pen. The ground is Copic YG03 and I used a Zig Millennium microliner to draw in some grassy accents. I freehanded the yellow ribbon on a scrap of yellow cardstock and added some accents with Copic Y17. The clouds in the sky are courtesy of the Rosie’s Roadshow cloud template and some baby blue ink. I also used a corner rounder on all of the pieces.

The thought for the second card came to me while I was putting the first one together. Those little bluebonnets looked an awful lot like Mountain Laurel blooms when I looked at them upside down. So I planted a lil Mountain Laurel tree on the second card. The card base is a green polka dot paper by A Muse. The card mat is Bazzill purple dotted swiss, and the tree is on white cardstock scrap. The stamps are all by Deadbeat Designs (tree, bluebonnet, leaves). Inks used: Memento Tuxedo Brown, Cottage Ivy, and Pear Tart for the tree, and Versa Magic Purple Hydrangea chalk ink for the blossoms. Again, I used the Sharpie paint pen to highlight the blossoms. The ground beneath the tree is again Copic YG03 with the Zig pen for grassy accents. I even added some birdies in the sky – hopefully they are all flying back north and winter is officially over. I freehanded another yellow ribbon for the trunk, and added clouds with the Rosie template.

I know I said no story, but I have to say this – there’s an awful lot of tragedy in the world these days. It’s like Mother Nature is taking her frustrations out on us. That awful situation in Japan, floods in the Northeast due to snow melt, some areas still having lots of snow. And I can’t forget our troops who are still protecting our freedoms and giving their lives for us. So that’s why the yellow ribbons are on my trees. Here’s hoping everyone is reunited with loved ones who are near and far away. Thanks for stopping by my little blog. Hope you enjoy what I have. I’m looking forward to seeing what everyone else did this week.

Texas Independence Tuesday

Another Texas Tuesday, and this is one just one day before Texas Independence Day.

Here are a few obscure and not-so-obscure facts about our great state. (If you’re not into this sort of thing, skip to the next paragraph.) Texas is known as the Lone Star State. The Alamo is considered the cradle of Texas liberty and it the state's most popular historic site. Texas is the only state to have the flags of 6 different nations fly over it: Spain, France, Mexico, The Republic of Texas, the Confederate States, and the United States. The land area of Texas is larger than all of New England, New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Illinois combined. It extends 801 miles from north to south and 773 miles from east to west. The King Ranch in south Texas is bigger than Rhode Island. Texas has more counties (254) than any other state. Forty-one of those counties are also larger than Rhode Island. More wool comes from Texas than from any other state in the U.S. Texas is the only state to enter the United States by treaty instead of territorial annexation. Texas was an independent nation from 1836 until 1845. A coastal live oak located near Fulton is the oldest tree in the state with an estimated age of over 1,500 years. Caddo Lake is the only natural lake in the state. All of the others are man-made. Dr Pepper was invented in Waco in 1885. The capitol building in Austin opened May 16, 1888. The dome of the building stands seven feet higher than the U. S. Capitol in Washington DC. The armadillo is the official state mammal. The first word spoken from the moon was "Houston". The name Texas comes from the Hasinai Indian word tejas memeaning friends or allies.

Well, my friends, I majored in history at UT, and sometimes get carried away with facts and lore. Forgive me, please. If y’all aren’t bored to tears by now I’ll tell you about my card. I used a burnt orange card base cut into an A2 card size. Added some striped paper from my stash that had some burnt orange accents, then added a thin white scalloped piece to cover the edge of the stripes. The focal point of the card is the super-duper “Texas Forever” Deadbeat Designs stamp. I used a wreath from a Sizzix die to frame the circle. Popped up the circle with a pop dot. The wreath is made from grunge board adhered to white cardstock. I used distress ink in Vintage Photo to darken the wreath a bit to give it definition.

Hope you all enjoyed this post. Have a great Texas Tuesday, and thanks for dropping in. And Happy Texas Independence Day tomorrow!