May Sprinkles Rest in Peace and a Card Workshop

Happy Sunday!
I've got some pics of some cards I made at a workshop last Thursday at the end of this post but first I just have to share an amazing experience I had this week!  This past spring I had the opportunity to reconnect with a cousin (on my mom's side) who has passionately pursued the family's genealogy.  In the course of our conversation Charlene mentioned an old family cemetery in the area she recently tracked down and suggested my mom and I do the same.  Hmmmmm, not really my "thing" but I dutifully pocketed the hand drawn map she handed to me and then promptly forgot all about it......

I came across that map a few weeks ago and in conversation idly asked my mom if she would be interested in spending a day "doing lunch and a cemetery".  Of course she would!  Soooooo, this past Wednesday armed with the map we set off on our adventure!  

We soon realized my cousin's map left ALOT to be desired and decided a trip to the county clerk's office was in order.  In their book of county cemeteries we found out "our" cemetery - barely visible from the highway - is in a clump of trees and carpeted with myrtle.  The fence no longer exists but the stone gateposts still remain. AND, you can only access it from a private driveway....Whaaaat???!!!  

So after driving down the 5th private driveway (and worrying the neighbors were going to report a suspicious prowler to the police!) my mother excitedly shouted "Stop the car!!!!":

Clump of trees - Check!!!  A carpet of myrtle - Check!!!  This had to be it!!!  So I told my mom to wait in the car while I got a closer look to see if this indeed was the cemetery we'd been searching for:

Ahem, NOT ex-act-ly....... But after a loooong bout of gut-busting laughter I happened to glance beyond the headstone of the dearly departed Sprinkles and this is what I saw:

Could it be the remaining stone gateposts of the cemetery just yards away???!!!!  My heart was pounding in my chest as I stumbled through the brush!!  And I still get the chills when I look at the first visible headstone I came upon:

For Charles Angus was the brother of John Angus who fathered Jane Angus.  And Jane Angus was my great, great grandmother!!!!
Many of the headstones were still visible.  There was the stone of Phebe, wife of Walter Angus (Walter emigrated from Scotland in 1793 and owned hundreds of acres of land in the area):

And Penelope was the mother of Phebe:

Some were not so easy to read:

And here's my mom reading the stone of Jane Isabella Angus Simons, a niece of Walter Angus.  It appears one of her descendants erected a newer stone to honor her gravesite -she died in 1846:

Mom turned 80 this past summer and I'm really glad I made the time to do this.  It's a shared experience I will always treasure.

And here's some cards I created at a Stampin' Up workshop I attended.  What I love about these workshops is the chance to work with some of the new products without having to buy all of them:)
My CAS blogging buddies will be so proud of this one-layer card!:

And here's the same stamp on a card with all the elements I love like polka dots, embossing, die cutting, windows and dimension:)

Now here's two cards using the same stamps and similar designs.  One is more masculine:

And here is the feminine version:

And here's a fun Halloween card:)

Thanks for making it through my wordy and picture heavy post!  Have a great week!