Pretty peonies and a sympathy card...

 Not long ago, I picked this bouquet of peonies from the plants beside our front steps. They are so full and pretty. I can't resist bringing bouquets of them into the house. We added two new peony plants this year, and I am looking forward to having even more flowers from which to make my bouquets next spring!

I also had to make a sympathy card recently, as our son-in-law's father passed away. He was a lovely man whom we had gotten to know over the years. We even stayed with him and his wife in Vermont when we were on an East Coast trip. We are so sad that he will no longer be with us, and I wanted to let his wife know how much we cared.

I started out by stamping my image onto a white slimline panel, using a light-colored ink. I had tried stamping it with black ink, but I didn't like the result. I thought the lighter ink was much better. Then I laid down a base of color on the flowers and leaves with alcohol markers.

I used colored pencils to add more shading, depth and detail. Some pale blue chalk was smudged around the edges of the flower spray, and at the last minute, I used a gel pen to add the light gold you see at the base of each tiny gold flower.

The sentiment was stamped onto the lower righthand corner, and the panel was added to a lilac cardbase.

Another sentiment was stamped on the inside, leaving lots of room for a personal message.

We are still working on getting our yard in shape. I planted more annual flowers recently, and my husband planted another grape vine. I love being able to use the grapes to make grape jelly in the fall.

Thanks so much for stopping by, and remember to laugh--a little or a lot--every day.

Cheryl