Wow, what a great collection of ideas! Let me see if I can give proper credit! From the 12 o'clock position, the 3 1/2 x 8 Sweet home card is mine, the one on a yellow background with the cozy fireplace below it was created by Melinda Flax. At the 5 o'clock position, the Grace card with the silhouettes and the one with the natures vein leaf are mine. The Twitterpated card in the middle of the board (slightly left) is Kris Massey's and the little 3x3 is Jen Coleman's. Lower left hand corner is the Jingle Creative Basics paper displayed by Jen Coleman, and in the upper left hand corner is the Jingle paper card by Joanne Zubal. I have the best unit sisters in the world - don't you agree!?! Naturally - everything is CTMH and from the new catalog! About me? We're working our tails off (not noticeably - it has occurred to me, as my pants are harder to zip these days!). I guess I mean that "figuratively". LOL I'm certainly ready for bed in the evenings! Take good care of yourselves, wash your hands.
Namaste.
Look at this adorable card made with the new "Twitterpated" paper! My friend Jen Coleman made it for me . . . I just LOVE this tiny card! I think it measures 3 x 3 inches. It will look so cute on my new catalog display board!
Thank you Jen!
I've been wanting to make a Recessed Window card - - - there have been very inspiring ones on my favorite blogs recently. I think it was midnight Saturday night that I decided that my Open Stamping group would like to learn this technique, also, so this was our technique class for today! It wasn't as hard as I thought it would be - although not for those clumsy with the knife or faint of heart!
All Close-to-My-Heart products; Paper = Grace, Stamps = Nature's Vein and Back to Nature.
We had a smaller-than-usual group today and it was very relaxed and very productive! Everyone seemed to be in the mood to get some things DONE! We had Thanksgiving cards, scary Halloween projects, Christmas cards . . . all with lots of chatter and laughter! I got TONS done today (other than grazing!) and feel like the weekend was successful.
I hope you've had a good weekend and are ready to face the new week.
Hugs!
This cute mousey was another stamp I found in the National Forest Service Ranger station gift shop in the Redwoods National Forest - they are from Ampersand Press . . . very cute stamps! I had a lot of fun coloring this one - I almost like it better than the squirrel!
Tonight was Yoga night and my Yogini (Linda) was back - she's been out for several weeks. I've missed her terribly and was just absolutely THRILLED to have her back! It's amazing what a gift she has given me - teaching me about Yoga. It has allowed me great improvements in daily life (better posture, more control over my emotions, physical flexibility). I'm not athletic (by any stretch of the imagination!) but Yoga doesn't require that from a person. You do what your body can do and you learn to be at peace with that. With continued practice, you improve. So - for me it's been slow, but it's progress none-the-less. Thank God for Linda!
Namaste!
This is an image I stamped with one of the stamps I purchased in Philomath, Oregon at the cutest little stamp shop! I bought it because I was thinking it might work with Flower Soft (and I'll still try that, too). I like this image! 
From our hike through the Redwoods at Stout Grove, we came out from under the trees at the Smith River. My friends crossed on this very scary bridge, but I stayed on the shore for a LONG time just watching them. This photo is for Jane (these shadows are not a good as yours!).
One of the projects that has been nagging at me is to "split" my weekly planner album into multiples. I knew by April that I would never be able to fit all the weeks with the "scrapbooked page" into the spiral that the planner comes with - we were already bursting the seam by then! What I wound up with was three volumes. Jan. - May, June - August, and Sept - Dec. This is the 2nd Volume.
I was way behind in my weekly scrapbooking! This was because I was unsure where to split the album and was very reluctant to keep adding pages that might have to be torn off. Next year I will split the album before I even start and do it into straight thirds. I had used Emporium papers for the original cover and thought I should carry it through the year. I like Volume 3 the least so probably won't post it! LOL.
It's been a busy and productive day! I wish I could have another day off, but that's life! And at least I'm blessed with a good job!
I couldn't resist posting this one - my friend Sheri (one of the Ya-Ya Scrapbooking Sisterhood) took this shot. I love how it captures the size of these trees! I was setting my camera to take a photo of the hollow insides of this fallen giant. The shadows in the forest are so pretty, too (Jane) and I just wish I could have stayed there forever!
I've been crafting - I'll post some photos when I get back from church later today.
This was the design I prepared and took with us on our vacation road trip! I did a little stamping, but not nearly what I thought I would get done! I think I was so tired from each day's activities that all I could think about was dreamland.
The card is pretty self-explanatory. The only thing I thought was clever was highlighting the word in the jingle border (CTMH) and to do that I used one of the "say it in style" words and flipped it over and stamped with the smooth back-side! I did second generation so the word would look highlighted and not overwhelmed by the Cranberry ink. My other thought (not put into motion quite yet) was to change the brads, highlight the words "peace on earth" instead as they are perfect underneath the trees. I might use red dew-drops instead of brads and put three of them along the right hand side (but not on top of the writing). What do you think? Should I try that?Work has been good this week - I've had lots and lots to do and have stayed late every night so far! But that's okay with me - I love my job and when I'm into it like this, the time just flies by! It's a bit like scrapping - you simply forget that it's time to _____ (fill in the blank)!
Namaste!
I was so inspired by the many things Kathi Carlson did with her Hero Arts background stamp that I had to order it for myself! It's really beautiful!!! This was the first image I tried with it - Desert Sand ink on Bamboo paper. The dots were done with Vineyard Berry marker. The squirrel image was purchased at a National Park Service information store in the Redwoods National Forest. It is copyrighted to Ampersand Press. Isn't it beautiful?! It is also my "first" try at coloring it - I think the colors need to be a tad more intense, but overall I'm happy and it was late last night when I was "playing"!
I'm so happy to be home!
One of the things I loved about Oregon was that you could go for a 30 minute (total) walk and see something as beautiful as this old covered bridge! Isn't it wonderful?!
During this walk we also noticed that all of the fire hydrants in this city are painted orange. Hmmm. Maybe it has something to do with the Oregon State University Beavers? Their colors are orange and black! ;-)
Still doing laundry (one more load!) but I did get over to the grocery store and have food in the house again. I just enjoyed a salad with the most delicious new pear vinegar that I bought in Ventura, CA on our way home. YUMMMMMMM!!!! I just sprinkled a little vinegar and olive oil on the salad and each mouthful was like a bite of heaven. (Deep Sigh!)
Still trying to get into the craft room!
There's no-place like home!!! I'm so tired - I can't believe I'm sitting at the computer and posting but I TRULY missed you all!!! I'll probably sleep in late tomorrow - do loads of laundry, and hopefully post in the afternoon.
It was wonderful! I am very proud of myself for taking almost 300 photos (this is a breakthrough for me!) even though only about 50 of them are significant. I am learning to have the camera ready - and not be afraid to "try it"!
Thanks for all your sweet well-wishes! One of the husbands commented on a phone call about the "Ya-Ya Scrapbooking Sisters adventure of 2009" and I think that kinda stuck! It works - we were very in-sync with each other and all easy-going about things like fog, or a lack of garlic (stories will follow eventually). I'm putting up this photo because the Redwoods were the highlight of the trip for me. I fell in love with this forest! This hug was more than just for the photo - I felt so connected to the trees. They were here long before me - and will be here long after. I am just a small visitor - a caretaker for a short time.
Namaste.
Well, dear friends, I thought I'd have something to post before I leave town, but I've been hit by the "TIRED" bug and am struggling to get my packing done :-(
I'll be away for a week. It's a trip of a life-time (probably) - - - I've occasionally regretted the wild decisions of my youth - one of which was to get married too young. I never made that big road trip with my friends. Well, sometimes life does give you "do-overs" and I got the chance to travel with two dear friends (who also stamp and scrapbook - so you know they're really, really special!!!). We're taking one of the daughters (we all three have daughters) up to Oregon to school. It seemed like a good idea to take two cars - we could haul more of the DD stuff that way and leave a car with her there. We leave at 5 in the morning. (that's the bad part)
I'm so excited to be going to Oregon! After we ditch help DD move into her place, we will be able to visit the Pacific ocean and travel leisurely home down Highway 1.
I intentionally chose green for the font because I knew it would match your color right now! ;-)
I'll miss you all! I've gotten terribly addicted to visiting your blogs daily and seeing what's new with you! Be safe and post lots of wonderful things! I'll post photos as soon as I get back! {{{HUGS!!!}}}
Wow, what a great collection of ideas! Let me see if I can give proper credit! From the 12 o'clock position, the 3 1/2 x 8 Sweet home card is mine, the one on a yellow background with the cozy fireplace below it was created by Melinda Flax. At the 5 o'clock position, the Grace card with the silhouettes and the one with the natures vein leaf are mine. The Twitterpated card in the middle of the board (slightly left) is Kris Massey's and the little 3x3 is Jen Coleman's. Lower left hand corner is the Jingle Creative Basics paper displayed by Jen Coleman, and in the upper left hand corner is the Jingle paper card by Joanne Zubal. I have the best unit sisters in the world - don't you agree!?! 
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