Old and New

For those of you keeping track, my baby bluebirds fledged on the 24th. Either mom and dad are building a new nest in the box in the backyard (the west box) or it's a completely different pair. The nest was finished when I checked the box earlier today. My husband attached a squirrel/raccoon/snake baffle to the west box which has never had one. I have cleaned out the north box and am waiting for another pair of bluebirds but a wren seems interested. Either way, this is the box I see from my craft room so except for house sparrows, I will rent to any occupants for the entertainment value I receive while I work.

Spouting off now: I received my new Martha Stewart scoreboard from Cindy Echtinaw about two weeks ago. I have the Scor-Pal and the Scor-It. I have used nothing but the MS scoreboard since the day I got it. I love the 1/16th divisions. It's lightweight, and though the scoring tool is fragile, I just go easy on it. I will be putting the others out at the fall garage sale. Now, I'm not a fan of Martha. I think she makes people feel inadequate - you watch her on TV and can't see the thousands of people in the background who do the shopping, the prep work and, for all I know, think up the ideas. BUT I do love her glitter and punches, I believe she's raised the level of those tools across the board. Whoever she's hired to create those products gets a huge KUDOs from me. I can now add the score board to that small list.

I have a girlfriend who has a birthday on July 4th. Last year I sent her a red, white and blue card. This year I thought I would send her a card that is just for her birthday and not another holiday. I truly enjoyed making this card, I thought it turned out very well. Hope you enjoy the card, as always, if you would have done anything differently or you have suggestions, please leave a comment. I do so enjoy reading your comments. Supplies used were:

Paper: DCWV Latte Matstack, Sweet Glitter Matstack; Stamps: JustRite, Firecracker Designs, Magnolia Valentine Tilda, Magnolia Cake; Ribbon: Offray - tied with my Bow Easy; Spica: Sky Blue, Lilac; Copics: [Cake W00, N0, R85, R81, Diamond Glaze][Skin E11, E00, R20][Hair YR23, YR31, Y21][Dress G21, B91, B93][Cupcakes Y32, B93, B91, G21][Candles G24, B93, Y38, YR18, Y08]