You Knock My Socks Off!

Happy Hump Day!

Just a quick share today as hubby and I are headed out to celebrate our wedding anniversary!  No specific plan - just going to get out and enjoy a beautiful, sunny autumn day in the Finger Lakes:)

Here is the card I made for him using some of the images from a fave Lawn Fawn set "My Silly Valentine":

I am such a sucker for for any images that animate inanimate things:)
Supplies Used:  Cuttlebug embossing folder, WPlus 9 Heart Stackers dies, Martha Stewart bakers twine, Stampin' Up pp and grey cs, Papertrey ink white cs, copic marker

And since I kind of used a monochromatic color scheme I'm going to pop this into the current Lawnscaping Challenge #66: Monochromatic.

Thanks for your encouraging comments!

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!

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!

50-50 and I Don't Mean a Raffle!

Happy Hump Day!  Have you seen that current Geico commercial where the camel walks around the office asking "What day is it?" -cracks me up every time:)

I haven't played along with a CAS-ual Fridays challenge in a long time and this week's challenge to create a CAS project with some kind of material like felt, canvas, fabric, etc. intrigued me:

I've had some Claudine Hellmuth sticky-back canvas in my stash for awhile and decided to try embossing it.  After adhering a piece to a white cs scrap before running it through my Cuttlebug it worked like a charm!  I really like the subtle texture it gave to my card. 

After reading a comment my dear and talented friend Maureen left on a previous blog post I decided to do a little research and to revisit a design to create my card for the challenge:

I wasn't sure if I knew what a 50-50 ice cream bar that Maureen referenced in her comment was until I looked on-line and realized it's what I knew as a creamsicle growing up- Yum!  Did a little paper piecing and coloring with markers to get my embossed image from the North Coast Creations set "You're the Bomb!" to resemble a 50-50:)  Sentiment is also from this fun set.

Other Supplies Used:  Papertrey ink white cs, Hero Arts sunshine layering paper and dots, teresa collins Tell Your Story pp, Echo Park Dots & Stripes pp, WPlus 9 heart dies, Stampin' Up chevron embossing folder and baked brown sugar marker 

Thanks for all your supportive comments!

A Passion for Papertrey - Inspired By Challenge

I found a new challenge blog via my sweet and talented blogging buddy Greta called A Passion for Papertrey!  Their current challenge is called "Inspired By" and in your post you must include a link/pic of what inspired you to create your card.  Since I'm still on a HUGE flower kick I chose this colorful Lilly Pulitzer floral bedding set from the Garnet Hill website as my inspiration:

And here is my card:

I combined images from the set "The Sweet Life" (roses and flourish) with some from "Ruby Rose" (sentiment and leaves).  I love that both sets come with matching dies:)  I used some of the new Stampin' Up In Colors (Strawberry Slush and Coastal Cabana) and Hero Arts Green Hills shadow ink as I don't own any PTI inks and am woefully low on my supply of their cs.

Other Materials Used:  Stampin' Up Apothecary Accents framelit die and chevron embossing folder, Papertrey Ink white cs

This challenge runs until 9 am Monday 7/15 so you should give it a try if you're a big PTI fan (like who isn't???? LOL!).  Happy week everyone!

"I'm Crafting in the Rain!"

I don't think I've posted this many days in a row in a loooong time!  Course I can't remember when it's RAINED this many days in a row either:(  Yesterday I pulled out a really old (from 1997!) but well-loved stamp from PSX to make a birthday card for my mom:

The birthday girl's favorite color is yellow so I embossed the image and did some coloring with Ranger distress inks and an aqua brush.  Felt good to work with such a sunshiney color since it's been awhile since I've actually seen the sun around here:(  The butterfly is from my fave Hero Arts set Antique Engravings - I popped up the wing for a little dimension.  The sentiment that I embossed on vellum is from an older Stampin' Up set called Happy Harmony - it really is a sweet little set I should use more often!

Other Materials Used:  Papertrey ink white cs, Stampin' Up vellum, yellow cs and woodgrain embossing folder, WR Memory Keepers corner rounder

Today is "last call" for the Simon Says Stamp challenge "Anything Goes"!  Have a great day!

(Melon) Mambo No. 5!

Happy Monday!  It's shaping up to be another day here in upstate NY where it looks like the skies could open up at any minute and deposit gallons of rain:(  The only good thing I can say about this weather is that I've spent more time crafting!  Lots of birthdays this month and lots of new product to play with:

Have you ever heard that Lou Bega song "Mambo No. 5"???  Everytime I use this Stampin' Up color called Melon Mambo I can't help but hum this song:)  I am in LOVE with this hummingbird die!!!  It's from Cheery Lynn Designs and I picked it up at a stamping show last month.  After die cutting it from white cs I sponged on some Ranger distress inks to give it color.  The sentiment is from the Papertreyink set Ruby Rose.  I wanted to use the flowers from this set in my design but after "consulting" with my dh, "we" decided they really weren't the right scale for the hummer....(again, I swear the guy needs to get his own craft room!) So I pulled out this Hero Arts Etched Flowers cling and after randomly embossing it went to town coloring it with Stampin' Up Melon Mambo, So Saffron and Lucky Limeade inks and a blender pen. 

Other Materials Used:  Papertrey ink white cs, Stampin' Up melon mambo and gumball green cs. Michael's black pearl 

I'm going to pop this into the current Simon Says Stamp challenge: Anything Goes!  Have a great day and thanks so much for commenting:)