Love, Joy and Peace.....PPA320

Still trying to make a few Christmas cards now and then because this is how I feel knowing that the holidays are just around the corner......

I love how my friend Dawn's great sketch this week gave me a chance to showcase some pretty holiday paper called This Christmas!  I tucked a few sprigs from Pretty Pines behind the sentiment - which I cut from Merry Medley!  Hope you join us at Pals Paper Arts!

Let's Fly Away.....FMS256

 

My first trick or treating partner growing up was my cousin who lived next door.  We are long past the trick or treating days but I still send her a Halloween card every year.  At our age there is only one way to fly......

My talented friend Jen Timko has a wide open sketch for us this week at Freshly Made Sketches!  I inked up the banner with distress inks and stamped bats from Halloween Scares. A sentiment from Delightful Doxies by Newton's Nook works perfectly!

                                                               

Pumpkin Season.....PP314

Friday morning was still warm and summery here.  Then just like that we were wearing sweatshirts by suppertime.  Pretty typical how fall arrives around here.  But no complaints from me....it's pumpkin season!  This delightful farm is just a few miles from my house - beautiful!

Laurie has a great sketch challenge for us this week at the Paper Players. I made a fall coffee card to enter into the Coffee Lovers Blog Hop.  Always a fun event!  My images are from Coffee Talk by Lil' Inkers and Jar of Love by SU!

Birthday Celebrations - Fusion

Emma and her uncle Mikey both celebrated their birthdays while we were at the beach.  She celebrated with a trip to the aquarium to view all sorts of sea creatures......

He celebrated by having some sea creatures over for dinner........

Use the sketch - or the photo - or both!  Come play at Fusion! The colorful dots in the picture caught my eye and the Stylized Birthday Sentiment Stamp worked perfectly with dots on my card!

Bright Days......FMS255

No rain for us this past week in Virginia!  We had a wonderful week at the ocean just doing beachy things. It was off season so we seemed to have the whole beach to ourselves most of the time!  

Every night after dinner we would head back to the beach to catch ghost crabs that skittered everywhere along the edge of the water.  It was strictly a catch and release game but it was very competitive!  Here's Emma sprinkling a "magic potion"  along the sand hoping to lure those crabs out when the sun went down!

I am still having fun with post it notes and masking.  A pop of Daffodil Delight against Night of Navy sends a hopeful message using SU's set called Weather Together. Our talented Artisan Amy O'Neill has a wonderful sketch for us this week at Freshly Made Sketches!

 

One of a Kind....PP313

Fall.....apples.....back to school!  They all go together for sure.  Miss Emma is having a great time in pre-K.  And she certainly is one of a kind!  She just had a birthday party and her mother told her that no matter how excited she was about getting a present she had to make sure to say thank you every time she received one.  When present opening time came her friend Ian sat next to her and handed her the gifts.  After each opening she would look at Ian with a big smile and say "Thank you  Ian!" ....... and of course he would say "You're welcome Emma!" and then give her another gift.  She would open it, smile and say "Thank you Ian!"......and on it went......

It was way too entertaining to correct her so we all just kept laughing and enjoyed the show!

Laurie has a CAS Taste of Fall challenge for us this week at the Paper Players!  I used the apple image from Happy Day by SSS.  Although technically my very favorite taste of fall would be apple pie!

                                       

Peaceful.....PPA318

My post yesterday was about the ocean - today it's the mountains!  If I had to choose between the two the mountains would win every time.  The ocean is terrific for a vacation but I love living in the foothills of the Adirondack Mountains.  But we have had a few interesting conversations high in the mountains as well.......

Everyone just lay very still - there is a raccoon in the tent eating potato chips - at least I think it is a raccoon.......said my Dad once long ago.

Just follow me - I will lead you down.......said the Big Guy as he disappeared into a blizzard of snow while skiing at Whiteface.

Mom we aren't even to the chairlift yet.....said my son as I gasped for air just crossing the parking lot in the Rockies.

These days I just chill by the fire and enjoy the view.....another tough job that someone has to do!

I had a great time stamping and putting the pieces together to create this scene using Always An Adventure.  Hope you join us at Pals Paper Arts!

Ahoy from the Beach - FMS254

I just finished watching the last episode of this season's Deadliest Catch on the Discovery Channel.  That must have been my inspiration for this card. I am in awe of fishermen.......especially those working in the frigid north!  Unfortunately I get seasick with the least little rocking of a boat - it is awful - and I actually have to look away from the TV during particularly wild Arctic storms!  Too many stories around here begin with words like this......

Remember how sick you were on the way to Martha's Vineyard?......says a high school friend.

Wow it was a long way to Mackinac Island for you wasn't it?....says the Big Guy.

I told her to just keep playing the slot machines and she'd feel better!......says my mother telling the tale of an 8 hour gambling cruise that I was sure was going to result in my burial at sea.

I have tried so many remedies but nothing has worked so I now enjoy the ocean from the beach......it's a tough job but someone has to do it!

                                                     

I stayed pretty true to Narelle's wonderful sketch this week! The anchor and sentiment are from Seaside Shore and I used By the Shore DSP on Very Vanilla paper. Hope you join us at Freshly Made Sketches!

So Happy.....for Me!

Truly this card should say "So happy for me!"  Lesley Croghan contacted me over the summer and asked if I would like to join the Fusion Design Team.  Ummmm....YES! Lesley finds wonderful designers from all over the globe for her challenge teams and I was honored to be asked to join the Fusion team. This challenge has two parts and plenty of room for creativity!  You can use the sketch or you can use the picture as your inspiration.......OR.....you can use both of them together....FUSION!

I loved the beautiful cake in the picture this week so I took my colors from that and also used the sketch. I watercolored using distress inks but kept it simple.....since that's the kind of gal I am.....and just used a sentiment set from Hero Arts.

Hope you play along at Fusion!



                                         

Fall is Dropping By.......FMS253

Thought it was time to make a fall card since we officially said good-bye to summer at the lake this past weekend. The Ring of Fire is a wonderful tradition at the Great Sacandaga Lake.  Sunday night before Labor Day everyone builds a bonfire on the beach as a farewell to summer.  So hard to capture in a photograph but the night is just magical. Hundreds of bonfires and fireworks everywhere!

Saying farewell to summer is a bit sad that means fall is right around the corner.  The leaves are turning, apples are almost ready and the air is crisp.  A fabulous time of year!

I love Jen Brum's sketch this week at Freshly Made Sketches!  I used the set Acorny Thank You along with A Little Foxy DSP on my card.

Stamp Review Crew: Foxy Friends

The possibilities are endless with the Foxy Friends set! I have seen all sorts of animals made from foxy pieces - designers are amazingly creative!  But I decided to just use the trees and the pawprint to make a holiday card with a simple sentiment. Foxy Friends does not include sentiments so I used words from Merry Medley.  It's a new background stamp from SU that contains some fabulous Christmas greetings. I am cutting the stamp apart so I have a lot of sentiments to choose from!

If you are going in order you have already seen Bruno Bertucci's fabulous work so you can hop on to see what delights Valerie has in store.

Spinning in Circles.....PP311, CTS#188

September is a crazy busy month around here!  We are squeezing in one more vacation and celebrating three family birthdays.  The month started off perfectly with a trip to the County Fair.  I drag my family every year - they are so over it - but not me - I love everything about it! I can count on one hand the number of times I have missed the fair in over fifty years! This year the highlight for me (besides the junk food) was seeing twin calves less than an hour old.  Mama was still working on them to get them on their feet. It was amazing - and they are fine!  Fortunately I have found a new fair lover in the family - Emma is already counting the days until next year!

Jaydee's fun challenge will have you spinning in circles at the Paper Players!  Miss E was spinning in circles for sure on all the rides - I stayed on the sidelines and waved as she went by!


                                           

I used a new SU set called It's A Celebration for my fireworks and a sentiment from Sentiment Sampler by Paper Smooches.

And I followed the sketch from Cas(e) this Sketch.

                                                   

Spiders and Sp-eyes......PPA316

I am not a fan of spiders but they sure are fun to put on a Halloween card!  One of the first books I always read to my class each fall was Charlotte's Web....and every year I cried when Charlotte died!  I know that's crazy but it also made me more tolerant of these creepy things.  So instead of smacking it with a newspaper when I find a spider in the house I try to scoop it up and toss it outside onto my hedges.  I do love seeing webs on the hedges covered in dew in the early morning hours! 

Patti designed a great sketch for us this week at Pals Paper Arts!  I used Jar of Haunts for my card today.