last minute challenge

Where does the week go?  When I checked out CSI challenge 133 last weekend I thought it would be easy to enter but then time runs away with me.  With work and play it left me in a mad rush to create a layout by the skin of my teeth.

I loved the colours and was a little stumped by the testimony but hope I just about sleuthed enough to crack the case file:

The colours are all there and there are flowers and paints (or inks) and possibly a flair (although it's disguised as an old fashioned brad!) plus Polka dots on the washi tape. I had planned so much more but it didn't materialise.

The journaling was meant to be on a banner but that didn't happen either.  Instead the testimony is an amalgamation of the inspiration word 'simple' and a chore and a 'how to' list.

I started out with the thought of the simple beauty of an orchid and how beautifully simple it should be to keep one alive.  I have never managed to keep an orchid that has been given to me.  They look magnificent when you receive them and then the blooms die ... and then eventually the whole plant dies.  That has always been my experience. However, I had one over 2 years ago that did survive its first year and bloomed again although not as prolifically as before.  Watering plants is always a chore and one that I most often forget until the plant is beyond resuscitation. This year I was determined it would survive again ... and Wow, it did more than survive.  I nurtured it in the perfect conditions of my bathroom and fed it regularly, checking the water levels.  I watched it daily and admired it and then waited with baited breath.  This summer it has blossomed to create 4 sprays of blooms ... a total of 25 flowers!!  How amazing is that?  It is simply beautiful, it is beautiful in its simplicity.  Orchids are stunning flowers and I cannot believe that I have nurtured this incredible plant.  It brings pleasure to me daily and is the first thing I see when I wake up and what a wonderful way to start to my day.

I'm not sure if this fits the case file but I had to share this amazing plant in all its glory.

There is a mix of Kaisercraft products, prima flowers and an assortment of washi tapes and Ranger inks.  

The photo is on the slant again and this time I not only blame it on my camera but also on my DH photography skills.  As I was at work all day today I had to rely on him to catch the natural light to photograph it and I'm pleased to say that he struggled as much as I do in getting the camera level in all directions.  And that's before either of us start drinking!

Thanks of looking and leaving any comments.