Edwardian Journal

I sometimes wonder what life would have been like for women living in the Edwardian era in England.  I don't know if you are a fan, but I love the TV series, Downton Abbey, which takes place during that period. It seems that women were either slaving drudges or pampered socialites, neither of which appeals to me much.  If forced to choose, I think that having work and mastering skills would be preferable to the boredom  of the socialite's life.  I've often run across one woman's solution to that boredom in the form of a Country Diary that she kept.

The author, Edith Holden, kept detailed notes about the plants and animals she encountered in the British countryside and filled the diary with illustrations and poetry.  The publication became popular after her death in 1920, but it is a charming and interesting book.


I had this book in mind with my card today:

The card was made using The Paper Players Colour Challenge #149 using the colours below:

• I think that the combination of those subtle colours with the neutral Early Espresso, plus the bird image on the challenge logo, made me run right off the bat to a new stamp set, Backyard Basics!  This set reminds me so much of Nature Walk, which just retired, but it is a little less realistic and needs some added colouring to work well.  
• The great thing is that it has a set of framelits to match so no more fussy cutting with this set!  You can buy the stamp set and the framelits together as a bundle and save 15%!
• I used the Stampin' Distress tool to easily distress all the edges, then sponged them with a little Soft Suede ink to age them.
• I stamped the butterfly, the egg and the bird onto Calypso Coral, Pool Party and So Saffron cardstock respectively, with Early Espresso ink, then used the same colour Stampin' Write marker to add some extra details.

• The background paper is Naturals White cardstock and the tulip was stamped right on the white and coloured in using markers and a Blender Pen.
• The sentiment is from the Bring On the Cake stamp set.
• I splattered the card with some Early Espresso ink to finish it off.

It's time for Product Shares!!

Have you been pouring over the new catalogue, wondering how on earth you're ever going to find enough ready cash to get everything you want??  I have a solution!  You sign up for a Product Share!  A product share is when five of my customers pool their resources to buy all of the new ribbons, buttons or paper and then it is divided up evenly between them, so they get a smaller quantity, but a greater variety of the new paper and embellishments.  I do all the ordering, cutting and sorting and you get the products all divided up for you.  I DO, however, need 5 people to sign up before I can order.  If you think you'd be interested, click on the product share button at the top of this page and read the instructions carefully, then use the sign up on that page or email me with your preferences!  This offer is also open to my out-of-town readers, as long as they live in Canada.

YOU CAN HAVE IT ALL!

Stamps:  Backyard Basics (w129255; c129258); Bring On the Cake (w128490; c121958)

Paper:  So Saffron (105118), Early Espresso (119686), Calypso Coral (122925), Pool Party (122924), and Naturals White (102316) cardstock

Ink:  Classic Stampin' Pad in Early Espresso (126974) and Soft Suede (126978); Stampin' Write Markers in Calypso Coral (131263), Pool Party (131263), So Saffron (131263), (all as part of the Subtles collection) and Early Espresso (119680)

Tools:  Stampin' Distress tool (127562); Squares Collection Framelits (130921); Backyard Basics Framelits (129380); Stamping Sponges (101610)

Backyard Basics Stamp Set

Bring on the Cake Stamp Set

Backyard Basics Bundle with Framelits

Squares Collection Framelits

Stampin' Distress tool