Just a Little Behind

Pretty soon these buds are going to pop open to this

and this

The top photo of the buds I snapped this past Sunday 4/28.

The other 2 photos, of the blooming cherry blossoms I took last year and posted on 4/15.

This spring was not last spring weather-wise, and we are definitely a couple weeks behind.

But last year was so warm and so snow free that we were unusually early.

I think we're going to have cherry blossoms any day now. Can't wait.

And my daffodils are just about to pop open, but this photo was taken last year on April 22.

About a week ahead of where we are right now.

I can't wait for those to bloom either!

Spring is so exciting!

Don't you agree?

And this was April 23rd last year. All these leaves popping open.

That view is still coming, but it won't be long.

We're into some gorgeous 70 ish weather this week.

I'll show you when this all happens.

Have a super last day of April everyone. Come back and visit me next month.

What a Masterpiece-Even with Dog Hair!

Here's a recent card I made that I am really happy about.  Including the piece of dog hair hanging on it-ha-ha. Didn't notice it until I posted it. In this house it is cat or dog hair everywhere!

I really like playing with watercolor markers, a spritz water bottle and glossy paper. This sunflower vase in the middle is an ancient Stamp in the Hand image. I also used some left over wrap that came around some item I bought to emboss the square background. Yes you can see my sticky tape...I admit, but it kind of gives it a bit of a border and sticks down at the same time.

That dog hair is really not helping my photos, is it?

But ignoring that, I am quite pleased with this card. Both of the center ring die cuts have been sprayed with ink, but in differing amount to give the back die cut a speckled effect and by using a lighter color and more spray the bottom one looks almost brushed. The circle is also made on watercolor paper and the other die cut image is on plain white paper that doesn't absorb so much of the ink. Hence, the speckles.

So yesterday was gorgeous, finally- a day to sit out in the sun  a little bit and soak up the rays-warm up in the long time coming sunshine.

Now it is back to grind. 

Can I moan one more time how quickly a week off goes by?

Enjoy your day and thanks for visiting me.

Another Vacation Bites the Dust

There's no way of stopping it from happening but alas, it has come, the end of my week off. Tomorrow it is back to work, BUT it is the last leg of the school year. Senioritis with be in FULL swing, and since I have 2 classes with almost all seniors, it should be a blast. AND the weather is getting more and more spring like and things are greening up. It is getting light so early in the morning and staying light at night too.

Think I can make it through this stretch.

In just a couple of weeks Katie will be moving home from college for the summer and then things will be hopping around here too.

Dave will be getting his new truck and the boat will be coming home and then off to the marina for the summer. Boating and fishing season will move into full swing.

I've got 2 trips planned this summer-one with my family and one from work to get some grad credits and to have a wild adventure in an exotic place.

All of that is coming.

It is an exciting time of year.

So today, some more scrap-journal pages from Arizona-2012.

I hardly made it into the studio all vacation-it was a real work around the house week,

but I feel good I got a bunch of chores completed! Yeah!

Snippets from pages- this one is a postcard of Bisbee that I had picked up. I used 2 scraps of background paper and then used a bit of distress stain around where the postcard would go. After I added the postcard I outlined it with black Sharpie. I cut an stamped the banner (Paper Smooches), colored the edge and wrote in the title. I added the  random October Afternoon letter stickers to make the other title and then I added the little Jenni Bowlin metal button sticker.

Also in Bisbee there was this giant fly sculpture I thought rather interesting (being a biologist by trade and all).

Here's views of the page I made using this photo.

Here's the side of the page. I used some Tim Holtz tissue paper on the page and then added some Distress stain. Some paper tape, and then I added some of these snap embellishments from Pima. Also, I used some red Distress paint around the photo and then outlined the photo with black Sharpie.

Background under the photo is some deli paper that I painted and decorated prior to using. Then I added some October Afternoon alphabet letters and outlined each with a fine line black Sharpie.

So this week it will be May. Where did April go to?

Have a great rest of your weekend!

10 Things Saturday

Wow that sounds very strange to me since for over 1 year I have been doing the 10 Things Friday list. But since it is meant to be the end of a week wrap up, I think it is time to move it to Saturday- which really is the end of the week. 

I'll give it a try-since in blogland I can make the rules on my own blog.

My vacation week list

1-It went too fast!!!!!!!!!

(of course, that always happens)

2-Staying home I did too much work- love that I did all this work, but what happened to all the play time I thought I would have?

3-I got out walking most mornings which was fantastic! Time to get back into it.

4-I am going to finish reading at least 1 of the books on my list!!!!!
5- Still truck shopping for Dave. I hope when we go out today he buys one. I am tired of shopping at auto dealers. (Sorry if any of you are dealers or married to dealers or have family who are car salesmen) I hate that little game they play!
6-Got to see my mom, whom I haven't been to visit since Christmas time-which I always feel so bad about and it was a good visit.
7- My daffodils are about to bloom-and some of the maple trees have giant buds. Spring is really here!
8- I drove around part of the big lake the other day (Lake Winnipesaukee) and even though I knew ice was out, it was so great to see open water.
Spring really is here!
9- So yesterday I worked in the garden, dug in the dirt, planted some lily bulbs, pulled a few (already) weeds, got dirt under my fingernails.
It was fantastic!
10-Got my cabinet into my bedroom, bought a new little dresser at Homegoods, got organized and more prepared for spring. The new cabinet is a success and can't wait til we get the floor put down!!!!!

Happy Saturday everyone!

Fiesta Time

Can't say I am going to any parties but tonight Dave and I are going to dinner with our friends Bob and Vicky. Not sure if we'll drink margaritas, but seemed like a good reason to show you this card that I made.

Really like how the drink and glass came out- looks almost like a real margarita.

I also like the shape of this card. It is a card die from Sizzix.

I outlined the edges with that margarita green. The glass is a also a Sizzix die cut, and I colored it green and then added a lot of Glossy Accents. Once that dried, I add a bit more of Glossy Accents on the rim of the glass and added some clear glass glitter to look like the salt.

The limes are from the lemon tree set of clear stamps by Flourishes. Not sure who made the margarita word stamp nor the little cheers stamp.

Of course it is the last work day of my vacation-boo hoo- but I still have today and the weekend ahead. And of course, vacations always end. Sad as that might be.

Still doing the chores, making some studio time, am looking forward to this day, with no major plans except for something fun this evening.

Have a great Friday.

Some Journal Pages that Need Something

So here's a page from my journal that needs something, what I yet don't know, but it needs something.

Am waiting for it to tell me what belong on top of these purple splotches, pink stenciled flowers and some gelli printing underneath.

And this page is also in the same boat as the top page. I am a bit further along but not sure what it really wants on it yet.

For this page I first painted an orangey-red background, then added some blue violet stenciled designs using more acrylic paint. I traced the Eiffel Tower from a piece of chipboard I have and then cut it out, but before I glued it down on the page I added a bunch of strips of some various and assorted paper tape rolls.

So I am hoping today to spend some time in the studio and see if these pages talk to me at all. 

It will be my first time in the studio all this vacation.

Time to stop focusing on chores and have a play day!

I did have a great visit to my mom's yesterday. Even got to see my brother and my nephew. 

And it was an absolutely beautiful day, blue skies, 72 degrees.

We haven't have many of these kinds of days this spring.

Hope today is just as nice since I could sit out on my stoop and read and enjoy the sunshine for a while.

After studio time that is.

Since it is play day.

(Well mostly. I will try to stay away from doing too many chores.)

Enjoy your day!

The Project Was Quite the Work

Took me almost all day yesterday to clean and sort and reorganize my clothes. Still not 100% happy with this new arrangement in my new cabinet, but I am sure I will be rearranging sometime soon once I get a good idea in my head.
(see this post for photos of my new cabinet
http://fat-emma.blogspot.com/2013/04/new-cabinet-and-few-other-things.html)
Frustrating because I spent hours and hoped to have it all finished and perfect.
On the good news
it was cloudy dark day and not a bad day to do the job.

I just have too many clothes and I wish I was someone who could just get rid of a lot more.
You know, a major purge.
I wear the same things all the time anyhow.

Even though I filled 3 bags to drop off today at Goodwill.

And I filled a big bag for the trash too.
The pack rat in me I guess is a pretty strong trait.

I took a break late in the afternoon and watched Lincoln which I enjoyed as much this time as I did in the theatre the first time I watched the film.
I needed to do that, I needed to recharge and to sort my thoughts how to finish up my organization.
Enough about how I spent my day.

So I never made it into the studio. :(

That disappointed me even though this was a job well done.

So here's some of my scrap -journal.

Today, some Mexican food photos from when we were in Bisbee, Arizona.

(Feb 2012)

Painted page, some scrap paper, some die cut hot peppers (Quickutz), a Tim Holtz cabinet card die cut, stamped image and this little metal button sticker.

I like those photo of me.  I look thin in it, the self I want to be 15  (or more) pounds lighter. 

I added some of the scraps from a Cheery Lynn chicken wire die-cut- I liked how these little scraps look arranged as a sort of border. I made the medallion from some October Afternoon pre-cuts tags, which I outlined with a white pen and added some white  Viva paint-pen dots and a bright little Prima gems.

You know the letters on this page are just drawn with a black Sharpie and colored in, but adding the Stickles really makes them look 3D and pop off the page. I cut the photo of my lunch out of the big photo and added it to the bottom of the page. Really like how that worked. Must say I like this page.

So it is going to be a beautiful day today and I am planning on being off to go visit my mom.

Don't mind visiting mom but I hate how I have to spend over 4 hours driving and how it takes up so much of the day.

But a daughter must do what she must do, and then I have the rest of the week to do whatever I want to do.

Sometimes one week off just isn't long enough, but what can you do? I was lucky to have the week. Only when you're home for a vacation it seems to turn into a working week. Always so much to do around the house.

Feels good in a lot of ways though.

Oh well, I am off.

Thanks for visiting.

Project Day

I started by using this speech bubble stencil and some red Dylusions spray ink.

It was one of those days when everyone is talking to you in either loud voices or non-stop or 3 people at once- each trying to get your attention.

So I dug out a bunch of quote stamps and stamped a different one in each speech bubble.

What fun to play with different quote stamps.

Ignore the purple leak through in the binding of the journal.

Then I use some scrap yellow paper and a black Sharpie to draw the letters for the word TALK 3 times.

I cut them out and glued them down.

Because everyone just kept talking to me.

I added the roadrunner because he was a die cut I had  made, didn't use and was laying on my table.

I rather like him.

And I wanted to be a roadrunner and run away from all the chatter and words.

That's why today I am staying home.

I am going to clean out my bureau and closet and load my new cabinet-the one I posted about yesterday.

I am going into the studio too.

Maybe even finishing my raking.

Or maybe not.

I found out yesterday one of my kitties has a growth in the back of her mouth that needs to be surgically removed, but the vet doesn't think (right now) that it is anything too serious.

I hope he is right. When he told me it was a growth it made me really sad yesterday. But then when he called and said her blood work was excellent that was a relief.

Next Monday we're sending her into surgery.

My vet has been spot on with diagnoses for all my animals in the last 24 years we've been going to him- so  hopefully all will go well.

Yesterday I also went back to the Container Store and got my cabinet innards all fixed and set, stopped at Costco for a few supplies and then made a short stop of my favorite craft store- couldn't stop myself since I went right by there and I had no reason I had to rush home.

Wouldn't you do the same?

Have a super duper Tuesday.

New Cabinet and a Few Other Things

Yesterday was a busy work day for me- doing a bit of spring cleaning and helping Dave install my new bedroom cabinet.

This is replacing my bureau. The dear hubby built the frame and I bought the internal parts at the Container Store back in late January when they were having their big Elfa sale. He still needs to build the doors and the 2 drawers at the bottom, but this cabinet is so large  that it was taking up all his work space in in workshop.

Besides, I need to decide how to finish the outside. I am leaning towards painting and Dave is leaning towards staining. My bedroom is the purple-grey color you can just make out on the walls and I was thinking of painting this grey. Dave is thinking stain-but once the floor gets put down there will be lots of wood there- and out house is post and beam so we have wood there too.

What do you think? Any suggestions?

Love how it looks so far though and I am so excited to start organizing and filling it up.

So today I am going back to the Container Store because I think I want 2 more shelves on the right and then I need to price some bins for the shelves; they might be a bit pricey at the Container Store so I might end up looking for those bins elsewhere. But not a bad way to spend the first real day of vacation. Once I get those things thing I plan on spending tomorrow home organizing all my stuff (along with cleaning and sorting too). 

I managed to do a few other spring cleaning items yesterday too! Feel really good about that.

Getting these chores done early in my vacation is great, and I am hoping then to have some low key and down time to play and create later this week.

Oh yes, and I did try my hand at homemade yogurt yesterday. Think I ended up putting in too few live cultures for the amount of milk I used- it needed to culture overnight instead of the 5-10 hours, but it still tastes great. There's a learning curve I guess.

Be back tomorrow with some art and maybe a few other photos too.

Thanks for visiting.

The Wild West

A little more of my Arizona scrap-journal from my February 2012 trip to Tucson and southern Arizona. Today's theme is the wild west- as we spent 2 nights way down in Bisbee- an old western mining town and then on our way north we passed through Tombstone and a ghost town called Fairbanks. 

I actually like wild west themed things, so it was a lot of fun making these pages.

The page above is an old postcard I found of Bisbee. I started by adhering this cool leather look paper down on my watercolor paper base. You can see I lightly colored some of the swirl. Then I die cut the chicken wire background (Cheery Lynn)  and then, after putting down some paint where I wanted the postcard to go, I attached the die cut and the postcard over that. Some October Afternoon pre-cut stars, an October Afternoon rub on, and some die cuts from a set of Die-namics western tags finish embelling this page. Oh yes, and one of these Jenni Bowlin new metal price embellishments.

You can see the other side and the actual postcard I used better in this photo.

For this page, I was using a picture of the famous OK Corral where they was the big gun fight that has become not only a historical question but also a western legend. I chose to spray the page with some red Dylusions spray ink-heavy in one spot, and also a bit of (just a tad) of brown to make it look like blood-since during the gunfight that makes this spot historical- there were some deaths. I added this Tim Holtz western set, which I actually use quite a bit-especially while working on these pages. Some stars from that stamp set were also inked and added. I cut out a Tombstone title word from a free brochure I picked up while visiting.

I will say I was actually quite surprised how tiny this pace was. I somehow pictured it much bigger.

One more little peek for today.

This time I used a BIG photo. I snapped this inside the Bird Cage Theatre. 

I started with my watercolor paper. I added some paper tape- you can see that on the left, and I used a stipple brush and some black ink on the right side. After I added the photo I stamped the saying and added a little handwritten note. Then I added these brads and wrapped a bit of twine around them- I was using the brads to hold this twine in place.

So yesterday I did manage to clean through some shelves I hold my Sizzix dies on. I store those on some CD shelves-CD /DVD shelves are the perfect size for the size of those dies. My shelves come from IKEA and they have adjustable shelves, which I really like. So yesterday I emptied and readjusted shelves and made a lot more room without getting rid of anything. Love that!

I only got that far though because then we had to go bring Katie back to school and Dave wanted to truck shop a bit more and we had to go to Home Depot. That seemed to take all afternoon, and then Dave was working on wiring last night because today my cabinet gets moved into my bedroom.

YAHOO!

Can't wait to see what it looks like AND I hope to spend some time this week cleaning out the exploding too full closet and also cleaning out my bureau and putting all of that into the new cabinet.

What an adventure!

Thanks for visiting my blog.

I love that you stop by.

Vacation Adventures

I don't mean to brag or rub it in, but I am off for the week up coming and I am so excited. No big plans, lots of potential plans, hardly any time commitments.

What a great feeling!

And it is even better this morning because I have the whole week ahead of me.

Not sure it will be a great weather week but at least it is spring and I shouldn't have to worry about being stuck in or home with a snow storm.

At least I hope I don't.

So here's a scrap-journal page from my trip in Feb. 2012 to Southern Arizona. I go in and out of scrapping mode, and lately I have been into it more. Been working on photos from this trip, even though it was over a year ago.

Fun thing about scrapping is that you can go back, and even if you don't remember every little detail (thank goodness for travel journals), you can relive the feel and the moments and the fun of a travel adventure.

This page is pretty basic- I painted the page with some leftover paint on my palette. I added the tracks which I made with a Tim Holtz's Sizzix embossing set. Added the photo, some brads, the banner label (Paper Smooches) and then stamped this little car. I have had this car stamp since early days of stamping, and I love it. Not sure who made it, but I do remember I bought it a long long time ago at the ink pad in NYC.  

Funny how you remember such details.

Here's another road page. This one has speckly spray on the base paper (I use watercolor paper for my bases because they're heavy and you can do a lot to them) and some bandana paper from October Afternoon. Love this steer skull- another old stamp- from Acey Deucy.

Here's the top of that page. I learned last spring in a Tim Holtz class I took about making these letters using his Grungeboard. I love them- they look like the old wood printer letters. Only since they are grungeboard they are lighter than wooden letters on a page. Maybe still a bit heavy for paper- especially if you use thinner background paper, but on the watercolor paper I use they aren't too bad.

So last thing for today is  my latest read and a book I picked up used that came in like 2 days from an Amazon book seller.

Can you tell lately I have been in a major travel mode?

My vacation reading list-

This book looked good and so far is good. What an adventure- walking across part of France. The author says that after living there for many years he still didn't feel like he knew the land and that this was a way of getting to really be a part of it. Love that thought- and I think being a part of the land makes you feel like you belong to it-more so than whizzing by in a car or train.

Although whizzing by is better than never being some place.

So I just finished Without Reservations  and loved it! 

So I bought a used copy of this book by the same author and hope to read that this vacation also.

In this book Alice Steinbach talks about her travel adventures with some different classes she takes around the world, and I can't wait to see if I like this book as much as her other book.

And finally

one more travel book for my vacation reading that I hope to make it through.

This is the third book in a trilogy that author Chris Stewart wrote about living in Spain. I loved the first 2, they are light, interesting and funny, and now I want to read this one and finish the trilogy. 

Hopefully I will have enough time to do a bunch of reading this break- I have been in a big reading mode lately!

Especially since the new Sookie Stackhouse/True Blood book by Charlene Harris is coming out in just 3 ish weeks.

But look what it says on the bottom of this book-

The final Sookie Stackhouse novel.

OH NO.

I guess it is time to move on (sniffle-sniffle), but that does make me want to read this and see what Sookie ends up with as a happily ever after scenario.

I am assuming happily ever after. Wonder if she will end up with Sam- who I thought she should be with all along.

The last book in this series was just ok until the very end. It finished on a big question oh no you can't end here note.

But I am sad to read this is the last book in the series.

It is like when a good friend moves away and you know they're still there but they're not close by any more.

You can still communicate with them but you don't see them regularly any more...

(I hope) you get my point.

I must say I have really enjoyed this series of books.

Enough said.

Thanks for stopping by and visiting.

Blogger's Challenge-In Bloom

A double post this morning.

Here's a card I recently made for Blogger's Challenge.

http://www.lisasomerville.com/2013/04/bloggers-challenge-in-bloom.html

I started with a blue background and then used  yellow Distress paint to stamps the dots on the background.

Then I used this sunflower die from Sizzix to make the big flower. I painted the different parts and attached it. Then I repainted areas with some Stickles, both green and yellow.

I added the stamped image and also added some Viva paint pen dots.

Once dry, I  added the clouds ( Memory box die) and the hummingbird (Cheery Lynn Designs).

Simple, sweet and bright.

Thanks for stopping by.

Travel Highlights

Since my vacation starts at 2:30 today, thought I would share some of my travel highlights from past vacations( instead of 10 Things Friday). I am mostly hanging home this week coming up, hopefully working in the yard (if the weather allows) and playing in my studio and taking a few little day trips. Nothing too adventurous or too exciting, but I am SO looking forward to a down week. I love having a week off at this time of year, a good recharge to get me through the rest of the school year and it is a fantastic time not be be in a classroom teaching too.

So here we go.

1-Going local in a foreign land-Glad I got to live with some extended family members way back in 1985 when I went with my Grandmother to Sweden for a month. Glad we took a few days to visit Copenhagen too.

2-My favorite beach vacation was at the Outer Banks of North Carolina.

3- Absolutely most beautiful and amazing scenery of the all the beautiful and amazing places I have been was Glacier National Park and the Canadian Rockies in Banff and Jasper National Parks.

4-Amazing but stinky place-Yellowstone

5-What I least expected to ever see- the Arctic Pack ice-flying to London in February and looking out the window of the plane

6- See the Northern Lights from Acadia National Park on a cold March night (Palm Sunday weekend) way back in college

7-Most wide open spaces and beautiful emptiness-Death Valley, California

8-Best winter beach walking city is San Diego, California

Also they have the best zoos.

9-Favorite big art museums was the Art Institute in Chicago and The D'Orsey in Paris

10-Craziest art museum of the Dali Museum in Figueres, Spain

11-Favorite Natural History museum-The American Museum of Natural History in NYC

12-Best hike ever was the Narrows in Zion National Park

13-Most Magical sunrise was at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon

14-Favorite sort of local place to visit-the Coast of Maine

15-Places you visit and say "I can't believe I am here"- The Eiffel Tower- Paris, The  Colliseum- Rome, Pompeii, Provence-France,  Versailles-France, standing on the shore of the Mediterranean ocean, Mount Rushmore, SD, the Prime Meridian in Greenwich, England, The crazy Winchester House in California (wanted to see that since I was a kid), 

16- Most amazing engineered road drive- Going to the Sun in Glacier National Park

17-Most amazing bridges I have crossed-The Golden Gate, the bridge out to the Eastern Shore from Annapolis, Maryland

18-Best place to do things to do for not a lot of cash-Washington, DC

19-Not as impressive as I expected it to be- Crossing the Chunnel between England and France

20 Most amazing wildlife viewing- Black Hill in South Dakota, Glacier National Park and Banff and Jasper Parks in Alberta

21- The best 60 miles out of the way-going to Bryce Canyon in Utah

22-The best churches- Mission San Xavier del Bac south of Tucson, Westminster Abbey in London, Sagrada Familia in Barcelona

23- City with the most interesting architecture- Barcelona, Spain

24-Biggest art museum-the Vatican Museum

25-Best snorkeling- St. John, US Virgin Islands

26-coolest little cities- Taos, NM, Burlington, VT, Portland, Maine, Portsmouth, NH, Nimes, France, Savanna, Georgia

27-Longest daylight hours on a trip- Ornskladvik, Sweden in June (only some dusk, never total dark)

28-Prettiest shorelines-Northern California Coast, Maine Coast, Cape Cod National Seashore, 

29-coldest but coolest big city- San Francisco in July

30-hilliest city- San Francisco

31-most surprising to me how nice these  places were- Cheyenne, Wy, Coeur D'Arlene, ID,
32- Most artsy city- Santa Fe , NM
33- City with the craziest drivers- Rome (hands up)
34-coolest retro towns and cities-Northern California
35-best stamping store- the Ink Pad, NYC
36- Best art store-Sennelier in Paris

That's my list for today.
What would be on your list?

Eat More Fruits and Veggies

More spring fruits and veggies to show you today. I told you I had fun playing with these stamps.

It is actually fun to pull out some stamps you haven't used and can barely remember what you have and then use them again. 

You can go back 1 day and see my other fruits and veggie cards if you're interested.

I really like this cherry card- it is my favorite of the bunch. I think because 1-I love my background, 2-I love the contrast of the gelli print strip to the background color, and 3- I think the cherries are one of my favorite stamps in this series.

To make the background-I first stamped  the cherries saying which is also from Stamp in the Hand like the main cherry image is. Then I used a white Distress paint and dabbed it down to make the dots.  I gave it a light spray of green Dylusions spray in. As with yesterday's cards, I used Distress markers on the stamp itself, gave it a quick mist of water and then stamped on glossy cardstock. Finally, I stamped the words (Flourishes) once in brown and then an overstamp in black.

The strip is a scrap part of a gelli print I made awhile back.

This card is similar but a little bland I think. Wish I had added some ribbon or tape under the tag and across the card. But oh well, it has been mailed off to the college girl. I used the same scrap of Gelli print on the left, and the asparagus Stamp in the Hand image.  I die cut the tag using a Spellbinder's die, sprayed it with Dylusions ink, and finally added some sunny yellow Viva paint pen dots. The saying is from Hero Arts and finally I outlined the edges of the card with a black Sharpie.

And here's the one that got me to pull out these stamps in the first place-working on a scrap journal page with a southwestern theme.

I was making some hot peppers for a scrap journal page and decided to take the leftovers from that page and make them into a card.  I used a yellow card and sprayed it with red Dylusion's spray ink. LIke the speckled effect. Then I used some red ribbon to make a little bow around the stems, and I used an Art Impressions word stamp to finish the card.

Think I might need to use these images and make some more cards soon.

So have you noticed how much earlier it is getting light in the mornings now? Here in New Hampshire I start seeing some light at 5:30 in the morning. I love it. And off to the west I can still see some dusky light at 8 at night.

Long days are the best- especially after the super short days of winter.

Plus we are finally getting some spring weather- been out raking- which I actually enjoy-trying to beat the black flies which will drive you right back inside when they finally appeared.

That is one of my goals next week when I am home on vacation. Gardening!

Can't wait.

I want to do a few inside cleaning projects too- nothing major- but some de-cluttering- although my studio needs a good cleaning and I need to go through and do my annual seasonal clean out. Not sure that is a small job. Ha-ha!

Besides chores- next week I want to read a couple of books, maybe see a movie, go visit my mom, play in the studio too- of course. (Especially since this week I haven't been  in the studio at all-except for about an hour on Sunday. Been raking, grading, very busy at work! I have another long day today but am hoping when I get home I will feel motivated and not want to sink on the couch with a good book- not that doing that is a bad thing though! In fact it is quite pleasant!!!! LOL!!!!) What's weird is I am not sure I want to hang out with anyone next- I want the week all to me!! Trying to keep an open schedule and flexibility.

This is a favorite vacation because it is a great time of year (very exciting) and I have it to myself.

YAHOO!

So I have babbled on enough  for one day I think.

Thanks for stopping by.

Eat Your Veggies

Remember those Stamp in the Hand fruit and veggie stamps you used to see every where? Now I think you can only find them on eBay, and I am not even sure Stamp in the Hand is still in business. They were so much fun. I decided to dig mine out the other week and make some card to sends to my daughter off at school.
You know, with spring arriving so slowly (for us at least) and me wanted to go play in the soil.

These stamps are fun because if you color them with a watercolor marker, give them a mist and then stamp on glossy cardstock, you get some great images. Wood cut looks, which I really like.

This image is just the inner part of the card, I cut off the plain edges.

I stamped the canning jar twice, once on acetate and once on white paper.  I only used the cap on the white paper image, which I used some silver Distress stain on. And I used the glass bottom on the acetate image.

Banner is stamped and die cut from Paper Smooches. Saying is also from Stamp in the Hand.
I stamped it and outlined it with Distress Markers.

And I love the artichoke-also from Stamp in the Hand.

I used 2 colors of green distress markers to make this image. And I love the background with this image too-kind of looks like the artichoke pieces.  I used a light pink background and sprayed it with light green Dylusion's spray ink and a Crafter's workshop stencil. Then I used an old Postmodern Design word slab stamp that says artichoke and stamped it several times in green. Finally, the main word (Rubber Moon) which I stamped and embossed in black.

Counting down until my vacation starts. Including today- 3 more days of work!

Happy Hump Day

Trip of a Life Time and Journaling

So start with these 2 ink pages.

They are made simply by taking some stencils that I had sprayed for other things and then I turned over the wet stencils and rubbed them on these blank journal pages.

I was thinking, why waste the ink?

Finally thought I should do something with them.

Then I added some images from these stamp sets by Chocolate Baroque.

Here's what you get when you put it all together.

Took these on my phone so they aren't the sharpest of focus.

But you can see how these images look on some random inkings.

The elephant is a little better on the right side here.

These images are great and they color up great. I used Copics.

You can see the left side here.

I left the rest of the page white. The words are stamped images from B Line Design and Stamper's Anonymous.

These pages have a bit of fantasy for me-color, images, travel addiction, sense of exploration...

and on a darker note-

I have to say

How about those explosions at the Boston Marathon? Horrible.

I hope all those injured recover quickly and that this stupid violence stops. I know the world has always been a violent place but so much of it seems so useless. For what? Chaos?

anyhow,

now that I have said that, we can come back to happier thoughts.

I am glad you stopped by to visit.

A Photo, a Card and some Gabbing

Look at this! Can you believe this what I saw when I got home last Friday- April 12th? I thought it was spring- but last Friday was raw and cold! What I love about this photo is that it is a view I have missed in the 24 years we have lived in our house. Can imagine missing this view in 24 years? I actually really like it. I love the fact that there are still surprises in the same old place even after a lot of years. It is one of those things that makes life exciting.

So it was a nice afternoon last Friday to come home and take a 2 hour nap-

that I really needed- and get charged for the weekend.

So to contradict that winter view, here's a cute little spring card for you.

I started by die cutting out the oval center on the base of the card and then adding this little strawberry view to that place. The image is from Flourishes rubber stamps and I colored it with Copics. The bee is from this great die from Cheery Lynn Designs that has lots of little bees and birds. I used  a Spellbinder's die to make the word tag, I quite like that tag. Then I added some scribbly ink dots with a black Sharpie and a white Uniball pen.

So did everyone have a nice weekend?

I am sitting here at 8 pm last night and off to the west it is dusk. Love these longer days. So my weekend recap-

We went truck shopping for my husband Saturday since he recently totalled his truck. No purchase yet, and I image next weekend we'll be doing some more truck shopping. Saturday night was the very last hockey game of the season as far as college hockey goes- it was the national championship game- not Maine- unfortunately for us, but Yale played Quinnipiac and it was a good game. Dave's sister and her husband came for dinner and to watch the game which made it fun. Yesterday we had to do our taxes-YUK!!!! but Katie and I went out to breakfast first and then I needed to de-stress from the taxes so I went and did some journalling and then some reading. I told you last week I am now reading this book

which I am loving. Not a fast paced book but I love how reflective this woman is, and here adventure is so rich and wonderful. She was in her 50's when she wrote this, and as a woman in that same age group, I can really relate.

And today it is the last day of the quarter at school for me.

Tomorrow the last quarter of the school year starts- never remember it being so late in the school year.

But only these 5 days and then I get a week's vacation- can't wait for that!

So what did you do this weekend?

Thanks for stopping by.

Hope I didn't bore you too much today.