While we vacationed in San Diego, CA recently, we had the opportunity to visit a wonderful woman and her hubby who I met around 1989 when I started an alumnae chapter for my national sorority. Gwen (who is now 75) and I became dear friends. She moved south, I moved north and we’ve been about 500 miles apart for about 8 years. She now lives in San Diego so we just had to see her. Anyway, her hubby went nuts this year planting tomatoes of every variety. When we walked in their house, half their kitchen counter was covered in all sorts of tomatoes. My son Matt (19) dove in and proclaimed that they were the "best tomatoes he’d ever eaten". Gwen and her hubby Joe prepared a lovely dinner for us that night. As a thank you, I have ordered them a couple of tomato planting and cookbooks that I’m having shipped from Amazon. Last night I made the card below using a very old set named "Very Veggie". I simply had to incorporate a tomato into my card! I’ll mail it today to thank them and tell them to be on the lookout for more tomato-y surprises 😉

The sentiment frame is not by Stampin’ Up! My friend Cathy gave me some embellishments last week and I had to use one. Darling! What I wanted to really show you was how the Scalloped Circle punch can be used in a different way than you might imagine. It’s the white beneath the red strip going across the card. I am the queen of simple cards as I have little time. Remember that anything you create with your own hands is an extension of who you are. Don’t try to be someone else and get frustrated that you can’t make cards like some of the gals on SCS or in magazines. Sure expand yourself and challenge yourself but be OK making a simple card if simple is how you like things!

Tomato_card