Clearing Out the Cobwebs and a New (to Me) Challenge!

Hello My Crafty Friends!
Phew!  Had to clear out some cobwebs around here (and in my craft room!) before I could post!  Taking a break from creating and blogging this summer turned out to be a good thing for me:)
I've really enjoyed making time for other things like:

• Reading....found the cutest scrapbooking mystery series by Laura Childs at the library!  Definitely light reading but the series is set in quirky New Orleans and the characters are people you want to get to know as they share the same passion for paper and ink that we do:)
• Being a tourist in my own backyard....Just last Friday my friend Sue and I headed to Taughannock Falls and on the way stopped to taste some cheese and to check out the goats at Lively Run Goat Farm just outside Interlaken, NY:

(photo courtesy of Sue!)

Don't let that those cute faces fool you!!  One of these little fellas tried to chew my coat sleeve...."the goat that ate the coat"!

When we arrived at the falls the sun decided to shine for a few minutes and we were rewarded with this gorgeous view:

• Leading a healthier lifestyle....I've alluded in previous posts to the changes my husband and I needed to make in what we eat. Who knew there were so many food bloggers out there??!!  And thank goodness for ones like detoxinista.com and comfybelly.com !!!  Their recipes - particularly for desserts - are awesome and help us to feel less deprived:)  We also "reintroduced" ourselves to our bikes and have been taking advantage of the Cayuga-Seneca Canalway trail.  At 9 miles round-trip it's a great work-out!  And I love that it's bordered by the canal on one side and farmland on the other.  We've seen lots of blue herons and just today startled an unsuspecting marsh hawk :)

Anyway, I'm sooooooo ready to get inky again and see what everyone's been up to!!  I was really saddened to see the Play Date Cafe Challenge has ended - I always enjoyed playing along with their color stories.  I've noticed some of my other blogging buddies
participating in Dynamic Duos challenges and when I saw this week's colors I thought I would give it a try:

And here is my card (finally!! right??!!):

The images and sentiment are from a Stampin' Up set called Day of Gratitude and were stamped using SU so saffron, pistachio pudding and baked brown sugar inks(used as a neutral).  Hard to see in the pic but all images were outlined with a Gelly Roll stardust pen - really pretty IRL.  

Other Supplies Used:  SU so saffron and baked brown sugar cs, Papertrey ink rustic white cs, SU woodgrain embossing folder, Spellbinder's Labels 9 Nestie

And since my card features a lil' bit of dry embossing I'm going to pop it into the current Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge: Emboss It.

Thanks so much for all your encouraging comments!