Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Inspired by Joy and my trip to Pahl's Market!

Happy Wednesday! (This is a long post, but mostly pictures and worth a look!)

I'm starting off today with a card I made for a friend. She needs a bit of cheering up right now. I loved Joy's card here and the technique she used! If you've never visited Joys blog, make sure you do! It's full of wonderful inspiration and beautiful cards! You can find it here. I thought it would be fun to try this technique with the Dogwood Stamp from Hero Arts.



The background panel is where I used this fun technique. You stamp the ink directly onto your craft sheet, spritz it with water, then press your stamp down into the ink and stamp it onto the cardstock. Do this over and over until you get the results you want. So fun, and a neat effect. I also stamped the Dogwood onto yellow cardstock and embossed in white, then colored the flowers a bit with Copics, cut them out and pop dotted them for some dimension. I added the black pearls to the centers for some contrast.

Now for a little tour! I buy all my flowers every year at a wonderful place called Pahl's Market, located in Apple Valley, Minnesota. It's an absolutely fabulous market, chalked full of color, fun and inspiration! Each time I stop here, I make sure I have plenty of time to look, smell and just take it all in! I asked for permission to take some pictures of this favorite spot of mine! Here is the entrance.





This place is HUGE! Most of the following pictures are self explanatory so I just posted one after the other. I did want to describe a few though. Enjoy!












Not only do they have flowers and plants, they also have tons and tons of fun, colorful pots and gorgeous pottery in all colors, shapes and sizes. Here are just a few.











There are also plenty of cute and artistic items for your yard and garden. Love these butterflies and dragonflies!



And is this cool or what!? Made of metal.









I giggled when I saw these!



One of my favorite things to do while browsing at Pahl's is to have a bag of this!



It's always freshly popped and free! I love to walk around, looking at all the colorful inspiration while eating a bag of popcorn! (In the winter, they also provide hot apple cider!)

So that's my little tour of Pahl's Market. Hope you enjoyed it! Tomorrow I will post the actual flowers I bought for my garden and pots. Have a great day! :)

15 comments:

Nat said...

great technique on your card Barb, I will have to try this! Love seeing all the photos of Pahls and love that metal rose :) thanks for sharing!

Anne said...

Love your card Barb- I need to try that technique too- it looks very fun!
I'll have to tell my MIL about Pahls (she lives in Eagan), it looks like a flower paradise! Thanks so much for sharing the pictures, I can see why you love going there, and who doesn't love popcorn while you are shopping!

Joy said...

Oh Barb, you sweet, sweet friend, you touched my heart. I truly know that I have been touched by an angel, and that angel is you, you are the sweetest, kindest, generous gem of a friend that anyone could have. Your card has really made my day, thank you from the bottom of my heart. It is so lovely and warm.

Also, can I come and visit and you take me to your nursery, I would so be in my element and we would have so much fun together :)

Thanks for sharing those lovely photos.

Hugs my sweet friend.

Arlene said...

Loved the tour. What a lovely way to start my day - seeing all the lovely flowers before I even take my shower. ;)

You card is so beautiful. Love the background.

Kelly Booth said...

LOVE your card Barb...it is sure to cheer your friend up!! The Flowers and market photo's are Wonderful...what a fun place to go for Inspiration!!
hugs

stampingandstitching said...

Gorgeous card Barb and I'm sure your friend will really appreciate it! Loved taking a stroll around Pahl's Market - I think I could spend hours and hours there!

Heather Maria

Jette / ma11edina said...

I love your card so much, as always with such bold and nice colors!! Stunning :))
What a lovely tour at Pahls Market!! I understand your feeling walking among all these plants, flowers and other stuff :)) All the colours and the smell of these would make me feel happy :)). Thanks for looking ;), i´ll be back tomorrow :))

liana suwandi said...

Lovely card barb

Tiffany Ervin said...

Oh my goodness, now you're making me want to try this technique too! Love it, I will give it a go soon! Love the beautiful yellows on this card! Thanks for sharing your lovely photos, what a wonderful array of beautiful flowers and pottery!

Vera Yates (Ling) said...

Lovely card, Barb and the pics of the Pahl's market are awesome. I also want to thank you for your super sweet and thoughtful comment on my blog. You're the sweetest and always know how to brighten other people's day. :)

Dawn T said...

WOW - love how you used the dogwood to make the background. Joy made it so easy to follow what she did. Love all the photos from the nursery -

78thistles said...

lovely card, barb! i love this dogwood stamp and nice job on this technique. the tour was fun too ;-)

GrammySue's Creations said...

Hi Barb, Beautiful card--I love that dogwood stamp. Thanks for sharing all the beautiful pictures of the flowers from Phal's Market. I laughed when I read the sign about the garden being "in bloom yesterday". That is cute.

Jacqueline said...

Love your beautiful card with the yellow summery shades, just lovely and I like that technique too!
Thanks for sharing your pictures!

jintyoo7 said...

Oh my gosh, i am not a gardener, in fact when my builder asked me about landscaping my new house, my reply was "astro turf and plastic flowers". I was kidding of course but I really need something extremely low maintainance. Anyway I loved the photos of Pahls Market, it almost inspired me to get my hands dirty (LOL). I especially loved the medley of green plant pots. Oh BTW your card is stunning.