It's Been Awhile!

Wow!  It's been awhile since my last blog post and I thought I would share a few of my fave pics and moments from the last quarter of 2011:

A view of the top of Taughannock Falls in upstate New York on a gorgeous autumn day:

 And here's a shot taken during the short hike to the bottom of the falls:



While my husband and I walked along the trail we were met by folks pushing baby strollers and wheelchairs, college kids taking a break from their studies, gawking tourists, young (and old!) lovers.  The sheer joy we all felt to be privy to such beauty was palpable.  So thankful to be healthy enough to experience days like these. 

My mom lives in an assisted living complex that happens to be part of the Butterfly Beltway Project Release program.  The complex maintains a garden abundant with nectar producing flowers and milkweed and each year staff from Seneca Park Zoo release some monarch butterflies they have bred into the garden.  Below is a pic of one of the staffers placing a butterfly on the back of my mom's hand.  So thankful to be able to still share these kinds of moments with my mom:

Here's a pic from Scrapfest at the Mall of America in Minneapolis, MN.  So thankful to have a truly good friend to share my cardmaking hobby with:

And so thankful to finally meet some of the online Hero Arts Flickr gals:

Here's hoping 2012 is as equally full of blessings :)

Congrats Grad!

We're going to a high school graduation party on Sunday for a friend's son who has been accepted to Syracuse University in Upstate NY.  I knew I wanted to use my fave VW Beetle image from Hero Arts clear set CL478 Going and somehow represent the journey from high school to college:

I die cut the "high school (h.s.)" from Cricut Winter Woodland cart and stamped it with Hero Arts S5216 Grid Pattern.  The "road signs" were made by attaching the stamped "To" and "From" arrows from the Hero Arts CL478 Going set to signs die cut from Cricut Walk in My Garden cart.  The die cut SU letters were stamped with Papertrey ink's Background Basics Gingham to give them a little texture.  The cute sun was a free printable from Hero Arts.   I embossed the grad cap from Vap! Scrap twice and popped up the top with foam tape for some dimension. 
Other Materials Used:  Papertrey ink cs and cloud dies, MFT grass border die, Cuttlebug embossing border folder (for the "road"), Big Lots alphabet stickers, Making Memories silver and black brads, Stampin' Up cs and ink, Bo Bunny pp

Temps were in the high 90's again - another perfect day to stay inside and stamp :)

50 and Fab!

It's my sister-in-law Sue's 50th birthday this Friday. I really hate all that "Over the Hill" stuff and black balloons they sell to supposedly commemorate someone's 50th birthday.  Here's the card I created for her:

 

Not one bit of stamping!  I used Cricut Summer in Paris cart to die cut the silhouette female and Storybook cart for the letters.  I found the little K & Co purse embellie at Big Lots awhile ago. 
Other Materials Used: Papertrey ink cs, Stampin' Up scalloped border punch, Source of pp unknown

My sister-in-law has raised two of the most delightful young ladies - Kelly will be a senior at Clemson University this Fall and Katie will be a senior in high school.  She opens her southern home to her mother for 4 months out of the year so my mother-in-law doesn't have to endure the harsh upstate NY winters.  She cheerfully altered her family's eating and exercise habits when her husband's doctor discovered some medical issues.  And during a recent visit she gave me a gift certificate she'd won as it could be used at their local stamping store.  Fabulous indeed!

 

Bring on the Girly Stuff!

I really needed a break from making "manly" cards :)  My dear enabler - er, I mean friend - had an extra Michael's coupon and offered to pick me up this Flower Fields stamp (P116) by Stampendous I've been eyeballing for awhile.  And one of my sweet Flickr friends Joy provided the perfect inspiration to create a card with it.  I really love the sunshine colors Joy used in her card and the way the sentiment was placed over the flower stems.  Here is my take:

I colored the flowers with copics and popped up the largest bloom.  The butterfly is from my favorite Hero Arts clear set CL383 Antique Engravings.  The sentiment is from an old Plaid set.

Other Materials Used:  Hero Arts Sunshine layering paper, Papertrey ink cs, Queen & Co pearls

My mom asked if I could make her a thank you card and since my Flower Fields stamp was still sitting on my craft table I decided to use it again:

This time I stamped the image twice and colored the flowers with a prisma and the leaves with copics.  I recently attended a Stampin' Up workshop and the sentiment is part of a set I won as a door prize!  I really like the whimsical font.

Other Materials Used:  Stampin' Up cs, pp and butterfly die, Nestie ribbon slide label, K & Co gem, Michael's ribbon

We've been having outrageously hot and humid temps with no relief in sight.  I must confess I like having the excuse to sit inside with the cool air conditioning and to surf everyone's blogs,  to comment on flickr and to create!  It's so difficult to strike a balance sometimes, isn't it???  When I can't create and be as active on-line I don't like it but I also don't want to sit on life's sidelines either :)

Inspired by a Car Show

Over the weekend I braved the 90 degree weather to attend a car show with my dh.  After spending 6 hours looking at literally thousands of cars I decided this must be how my dh feels when he gets stuck coming with me to a stamping store -LOL!

I have to admit I was quite impressed with the workmanship that goes into restoring these old vehicles.  So much so that I was inspired to create a card based on this one:

Don't you just love this color combination?  And doesn't the front end look like a face?  Wonder what it would it say if it could talk :)

And here is my card:

I used the classic car image from Hero Arts clear set CL478 Going and colored it with markers.  I used a silver gel pen on the chrome parts (hard to see in the pic) and I tried to make the matting look like an old polaroid photograph.  Wasn't sure about the "road" but thought I needed to somehow ground the car image.
Other Materials Used:  Papertrey ink cs, Stampin' Up sentiment, Cuttlebug embossing folder, Source of pp unknown, Provocraft punch, photo corners

Took lots of pics and thought I would share some of my faves.   Can you imagine cruisin' in this beauty to the drive-in? :


Somehow I don't think this is the car's original paint job! :

This electric blue was dazzling!  But I keep wondering how anyone can see out those tiny windows well enough to drive! :

And lastly I found something very endearing about this old school "Rat Rod"!  :

Mandatory Manly Stampin' Stuff

Summer in my family means mandatory manly stampin' as my brother and his two sons Scott Jr. and Stuart celebrate their birthdays in July and August.  Thank goodness I picked up a copy of the Stamp It! Cards vol. 8 issue as one of the cards featured on page 67 inspired me to introduce myself to some of the other images in Hero Arts CL478 Going set.  I wanted this set just for the VW Beetle image and I've completely ignored the other stamps until now :)

I followed Becky Lillibridge's design pretty closely except I used the truck instead of the motorcycle image, used a sentiment from Hero Arts CG275 Birthday (4) and added a birthday "balloon".  My brother Scott owns a very "manly" blue truck so I think he'll appreciate this.
Other Materials Used:  Stampin' Up cs, Ranger faded jeans distress ink, VersaFine toffee ink, Hero Arts S5507 Envelope Pattern, Making Memories brads, Hemp, Cricut George and Basic Shapes cart (balloon die cut)

My nephew Scott Jr. is an ex-Marine currently working as a civilian in Kuwait. He's got some vacation time coming so I'll be able to give him his card in person next month:

This time I embossed the sentiment and used a Cuttlebug embossing folder to make the background.  I really like this color combination for a masculine card - the embossed piece is Papertrey ink's ocean tides cs.

Two manly cards down, one to go!  Thought I'd share my favorite pic of the two boys:

They are close in age and have been sooooo competitive all their lives.  Here they look genuinely happy to be in one another's company!  As they've gotten older their presence at family gatherings is no longer a given and I miss them....

Thanks for stopping by!  Your comments truly make my day!

A Trip to the Zoo

Today was my mom's birthday and it also happened to be the day the assisted living facility where she lives had planned an outing to the zoo.  And since there was room for one more they let me tag along :)

Look at how bored and grumpy this orangutan looks:



But look what happens when he finds himself with an audience!  Hee!

This pair of rhinos look as dry and dusty as the ground where they're resting.  Did you know they are hunted senselessly for their horns only?  Their meat and hides are left to rot.

They say cats sleep for at least 20 out of the 24 hours in a day.  At least this snow leopard lazily opened her eyes for the camera!

You can see why the staff at the zoo have nicknamed this seal "Flounder":

And lastly here's a pic of the birthday girl - I think her smile says it all!

So incredibly thankful for days like these :)