Red Orchid Cactus Bloom

 What a spectacular event to watch a

Red Orchid Cactus bloom!

Yesterday my Red Orchid Cactus bloom started to open up.  I thought it was going to take a few more days to open but I had the oppportunity last night to watch it open during a 90 minute watch!  Below are the photos.  The bloom  measurers 8 inches in diameter. 

 Wow!  This is what it looks like this morning!!!!

Enjoy your weekend!

Judi

Princess Castle

Just wanted to share with you my very first attempt at a detailed fancy cake.  My sister, Nancy is the cake decorator in the family.  You have probably seen some of her cakes on her blog at mulberrystation.blogspot.com.

A few years ago she posted her version of this cake and I knew that I wanted to attempt to make it for my grand daughter.  Well, now I have two grand daughters so I may be trying my hand at it a few more times. 

I am watching my two oldest grandchildren this week while their mother is providing some extra TLC to their newest little one.  My grandchildren always love to work on projects at Grandma's house so I thought this cake woud be a fun project.  They loved it.  My grand daughter loved putting on the little flowers and lining them up around the lazy susan.   I have a lot to learn in the cake decorating arena!  But I had a good time...just wished I had had Nancy or Arlana by my side to give immediate instruction.  But since they weren't close by mostly Nancy but even Arlana received a few phone calls about the procedure.  The proper consistency of the frosting is a very important detail...one that I need to work on. 

Anyway, this is a Wilton Castle Cake Set in case you are interested in purchasing your own kit.

You probably can't tell from my photo...but this is a huge cake made with four cake mixes.  We will be inviting a few people over to eat it.

Enjoy!

Origami Necktie and Shirt Card

Today I have been busy getting ready for our Father's Day festivities and two birthday celebrations in our family.  But as I visiting with Nancy today she directed me to this wonderful turtorial on Paper Craft Planet.....a quick and easy Father's Day card!!!  So I ended up making 12 of them.  I made three for the father's in our family and 9 for my primary children to give to their fathers. These are the two version that I made.  The green shirt is made with cardstock...which I would not recommend.  It took lots of scoring and just took much longer to put together.  The other papers are all lightweight typing or craft papers....definitely much easier to fold.  This project took less than an hour to choose the papers and to make all 12 card.  The shirt is made from an 8 1/2 X 11 sheet of paper and the tie is a 4X4 square.   There is room on the inside of the shirt or on the back to leave a message!

There are several tutorials on Paper Craft Planet.  At the end of this tutorial you will see other versions.  The first version is without sleeves.  I chose one of the version at the end of this tutorial.

Click HERE to view the tutorial  UPDATE:  CLICK HERE

Happy Father's Day!  If you forgot to get a card you can make this one in less than 5 minutes!  Enjoy!


Hugs!  Judi

Beach Baby

Sweet Sketch 157

Sweet Sketch Wednesday

Sponsor:  Saturated Canary Digis

My creation today is from Saturated Canary Digis.  This image is called Beach Baby.  Isn't she so adorable?  I love the big eyes that Krista uses for her images.  This week at Sweet Sketch Wednesday, Saturated Canary Digis is our sponsor. 

Krista, the owner, is offering two free digis

from her shop if you are the lucky grand prize winner at SSW. 

 So be sure to play along this week at Sweet Sketch Wednesday.

This image reminds me of our adventures as a family at Cannon Beach, Oregon.  In fact the little shell is from our beach combing moments on the beach

I punched the star fish from a MS punch.  The Sand paper is from JoAnn's and is called "Sand."  I decided to use the Cuttlebug Swirls embossing folder to give some wave texture but the swirls disappeared when I put the image in place.  I also used the Deckle Nestablilities and then a ribbon from Joann's.  I accented the bucket with glossy accents and added stickles to the star fish and shells.

For a year now I have loved using orange and teal together.  My friend's daughter used these colors for her wedding and it was gorgeous!

Be sure to stop by Krista's store.  You will not be disappointed. 

http://saturated-canary.myshopify.com/collections/all

http://www.saturatedcanary.blogspot.com

http://www.saturatedcanarychallenge.blogspot.com/

My name is Krista Smith. I am the artist behind the Etsy shop, Saturated Canary Digis. I began working in the stamping world about a year ago when I was hired to create rubber designs for the sweet Scottish company, Sugar Nellie. They launched my artwork under the name 'Simply Sassy.' I moved into the digital world just this past month (it's been a super busy month, indeed!). And-- I love it!! There is a little more freedom here, as I can create anything that pops into my head:)! I am so humbled by the artistic talent of the girls coloring in my designs-- it is truly an inspiration! Likewise, I am so thankful for the friendships I've made in this wonderful and lovely crafty community! It's been a true delight! I'd love for you to stop by my challenge/inspiration blog, Saturated Canary Challenge and join in the fun...And, while you're there, click over to my personal blog (Saturated Canary) and introduce yourself! I am a bit eclectic and touch on everything from family (I've got me a great one!) to fashion (obsessed!)...Please say 'hi!'...I'd love to be friends!:)

This is the sketch you will be using for this
week's challenge at SSW!

Have a great week creating something special!