Elegant Asian Engagement Wishes

Mountain Man's cousin just got engaged to a beautiful girl and they've decided to have an Asian-inspired wedding. This special card is for them. I hope they have a long and wonderful life together!

Still busy as a bee around here. I've been getting home so late from work and am usually too tired to do anything, but I did stamp last night. This one was for the SC187 challenge on Splitcoast.

Stamps: Sincere Salutations

Paper: Carmel & ruby-red colored textured cardstock (it's not labeled), DCWV Far East Fire Blossom dp

Ink: Ruby Red

Accessories: Basic Grey rub-on, pearl stickers, Asian charm (Far and Away), gold cord, white ribbon (old SU), ticket corner punch

Happy stamping!

Workaholic

Well, it seems I've become a workaholic, but not by choice, so I guess that theory is blown! Seriously, I usually leave my house by 7am and don't get home until around 7pm (or later if I go to the gym). I've also been very busy when I'm actually home, so the blog has suffered a bit.

Saturday evening, Anne & Josh came over so I could take pictures of their brand new cutie patootie, Gillead. Let me tell you - he's a handsome little guy! I'm still working on editing the pictures, but I'll show you a couple of my favorites so far.

Isn't he precious?
And here's his little card and gift bag full of onesies!
I'm off to work on the house a little before I go to bed. I've got lots to catch up on and we've got company coming in on Friday!

Happy stamping!

Happy Birthday Kathymom!

It's Kathy's birthday today! Woo-hoo! I'm sorry I'm late on getting your card to you; I hope you had a very happy day! I love you and I'm glad you're a part of my life.

I was inspired by the CPS Sketch #73 for this sweet little card. They post a sketch every week, so be sure to check out their fun website.

Happy stamping!

Celebrate Life with TK

I made this project for the CHF masculine challenge, and used SC185 from SCS for the layout.

I added texture to the green strip using the scoring blade on my paper cutter. The main image panel has glitter on the lighter parts of the water (which I think saw on some other TK images, either in SCS or CHF galleries) and is popped up with medium Zots to give it some dimension.
Stamps: TK It Doesn't Get Much Better, SU So Many Sayings
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, Staz-On Timber Brown, SU Close to Cocoa
Paper: Bo Bunny Chocolate Dot (used reverse side), SU Handsome Hunter, SU Whisper White
Tools: Crop-o-dile, scoring blade, scissors
Accessories: Kohinoor woodless color pencils, baby oil, blending stump, SU pastels, yellow twine (colored with brown Sharpie), brown satin ribbon, CE, ultra fine prisma glitter (blue tint), copper eyelets, medium Zots (for dimension)

Hope you have a fantastic week!

Kayak Point Beach

Saturday was such a fun day! We had planned to drive over to Whidbey Island and toodle around at the lighthouse and beach, but the ferry wait time was 2+ hours, so we scrapped that idea and drove up to Marysville. We drove around on the Tulalip Indian Reservation and then happened upon Kayak Point Beach. There were quite a few people there but it wasn't uncomfortable. We walked up and down the beach a few times and watched kids catching tiny crabs in the tide pools, people fishing off the pier, a seagull having a fish dinner, families flying kites, people sunning and swimming, and having a good time together.

Click on photo to go to the gallery.

Thomas Kinkade, Painter of Light

Thomas Kinkade, Master of Light, is one of my favorite artists. I love all of his paintings, from the cottages and gardens to the lighthouses; they're all masterpieces to me.

This particular image is called Light of Peace, and it's just breathtaking!

Thomas Kinkade's Light of Peace, colored with Kohinoor Pencils and Pastel Chalks

To my delight, Cornish Heritage Farms sells high-quality TK rubber stamps. They're truly beautiful images. I've used them a couple of times for monotone cards, but this was my first attempt at coloring a TK image. This literally took me hours to complete, but I'm hoping that next time it will go a little quicker. I used my Kohinoor woodless pencils (12-color set) with baby oil and a blending stump to color the image. I'm looking forward to experimenting with different inks and paper.

Stamps: CHF TK Light of Peace
Paper: SU Whisper White, SU Night of Navy
Ink: Black VersaFine
Toools: Kohinoor woodless pencils, baby oil, blending stump, SU pastels

Happy stamping!

Wall-E Loves Eve

Last Saturday, Hubby and I had date night and saw Wall-E. There wasn't a lot of dialogue in the movie, but it was very cute and we both enjoyed it.

I thought it would be fun to make a Wall-E card, and thankfully, I found some free coloring pages online at Wall-E Coloring Pages.

The original coloring page from Wall-E Coloring Pages

I printed the free coloring page out onto Whisper White cardstock before coloring the images with Kohinoor pencils, baby oil, and a blending stump. The images were too big for a card, so I framed them.

Wall-E colored with Kohinoor Pencils

Wall-E and Eve are both on dimensionals and Eve is covered with Crystal Effects, so she's quite shiny! The "Wally {heart}'s Eve" was drawn with Liquid Applique so it would appear to be shooting out of the fire extinguisher. This space scene where Wall-E was using the fire extinguisher was one of my favorite scenes in the movie. I spent a long time coloring Wall-E and referenced the official Wall-E website for his coloring and shading.

Eve is coated with Crystal Effects

Fire Extinguisher Writing drawn with Liquid Appliqué

Main Images: Printed from Wall-E Coloring Pages
Paper: Black, Silver, Red, White
Ink: Vintage Photo Ranger Distress Ink to sponge red edges; Kohinoor pencils, baby oil, and blending stump for coloring images; White gel pen for stars
Accessories: Crystal Effects, Liquid Applique, Silver Brads, Blur ribbon

Happy Stamping!

Vive's Special Day

Now can you see why I absolutely adore her?! She is so sweet and fun and says the funniest things. See Vive's 2nd Birthday for more of the evening in pictures.

Some funny things out of the mouth of Vive include:

• "Would you look at that?" She squealed this after pulling her card (from us) out of the envelope! It was hilarious!
  
• "Smiley" - She says this any time the camera is pointed at her, no matter what she's doing!
• "Bye Bye. I'll talk to you later." - She says this when she's ready to get off of the phone.
• "Oh dear!" - Exclaimed any time there's an accident (i.e. sippy cup falls on the floor).

I can't believe she just turned two years old and she has already picked up so many phrases. Such a cutie!

Happy Birthday, Vive!

Our sweet friends have the cutest little girl and she's turning 2 today! Seriously, I'm just wild about her. She has captured my heart. <3 We're going to her birthday party tonight and I wanted to make a special card for her.

I used the Inspiration Challenge {IC136} from SCS to get inspired. This is one of the wedding cakes featured, and is originally from Cupcakes of Vancouver. Isn't that a gorgeous cake?! This one is called "Minnow."
And this is my resulting card for Vive:
Stamps: SU Simply Circles, A Muse (Bear from Animal Wishes clear set) and A Muse "Happy Birthday"
Paper: SU Barely Banana, Misc. pink scrap, watercolor
Ink: VersaMark, SU Positively Pink (old), Brown Staz-On; For watercoloring, I used SU Barely Banana and SU Pretty in Pink
Accessories: Sheer ribbon, Crystal Effects, Glitter, Aquapainter, Scallop punch, Scallop scissors, and Heart bling from Crystal Stickers Elements

Happy Stamping!

Random Recap

This week has been a little crazy, as we've just had lots going on. I've been trying to get everything cleaned up from the party and backpacking. Unfortunately, I'm still not done and it's driving me crazy!

Monday, was our 10th wedding anniversary. I can't believe it's been 10 years since we've said our vows. Sometimes it feels like yesterday. I began compiling a small list of things that have happened since then, trying to remember what we've been through. Mountain Man gave me a gorgeous butterfly necklace with matching earrings. (Did you know that I'm crazy about butterflies?) I still don't have a picture of them. We finished off the day eating at Yama in Bellevue. We had THE best shrimp fondue dish I've ever had. The weather was gorgeous and we had a nice table outside. It was a very nice and relaxing dinner, just talking and smiling at each other. Love was in the air.

Monday was also BA's birthday. I'm sorry I wasn't ahead on my birthday cards. :( I hope you had a great day!

Tuesday was another day of rejoicing, as our friends had a little boy! Holly and I went to see little Gilead and his parents at the hospital that night. She looked fabulous and she had him all-natural, without any drugs - I know, she's my hero!
Wednesday, Mountain Man and I carpooled to work. I am always drained when I get home from work, although, I'm mostly sitting at a desk all day. I'm not sure why that is!

It's another gorgeous day in the Seattle area and I wish I had a pool, although the number of days I could actually use it wouldn't be worth having one. I've made some phone calls today, run some errands, and now I'm off to make some Logan Bread for Mountain Man. We're testing the recipe to see if it would be good for his PCT Attempt #2 coming up in August.

That's about it, but it seems I haven't slowed down this week. I'm not sure how people with kids do it! :) I haven't had time for stamping (sniff, sniff), but I'm hoping to do some this weekend. We've got Vivi's birthday on Saturday night and then church family camp on Sunday, so it's still busy! I'll see what I can work into the schedule.

TTFN!

Pink Lemonade anyone?

What's a better summer drink to quench your thirst than some pink lemonade? My blogging friend, Keri, (Hi Keri!) brilliantly combines jewelry-making and stamping for some amazing projects, and this one is no exception! Not only did she make that gorgeous set, but she's giving it away! So grab your surfboard and boogie on over to her blog; you won't be disappointed.

Spider Meadow Backpacking Trip

Spider Meadow from our tent

In celebration of our tenth anniversary, we went on a backpacking trip this past Saturday and Sunday to Spider Meadow. This was my favorite trip we've taken this year, as we had pretty nice weather, the trail was fairly easy, and we found wildflowers, butterflies, and waterfalls a plenty!

Dates: July 5-6, 2008 (Sat-Sun)
Trail info: Spider Meadow trail, 15 miles round trip, 2000-foot elevation gain was gradual (3500 - 5500 feet), nicely maintained trail (except in the avalanche devastation)
Highlights:

• Lots of wildflowers
• Butterflies
• Countless waterfalls (from snow-melt)
• Crossing the river barefoot
  
• Walking through destruction left by an avalanche
  
• Marmots (with their high-pitched screech) in the meadow
• Gummy bears and "energy pills" (peanut m-n-m's)
• A fashion show with the polarized sunglasses I found in the vegetation

Mountain Man takes my breath away; not only is he handsome, but he's smart, funny, and sweet!

A memorable stream crossing - painfully cold!

(Click on the foot/paw picture to go to the photo album.)

Happy hiking!

Happy Fourth!

Hope y'all are having a wonderful 4th of July celebrating our freedom. Here are pics from our big shebang this year. {Click on the photo for pictures of the party.}
Praying for many blessings on our troops, veterans, and their families! Especially remembering Adam (BA's fiance), Ad (Keri's hubby), and Brent (Jennifer's brother) on this day and praying for them all while they're serving overseas. Lots of love to them and to my friends...their loved ones back home.

Kristina Werner's Color Inspiration #14

I finally had the opportunity to participate in one of Kristina's color challenges. (She's got the cutest blog, so check it out if you haven't already been there.)

Just a quick one tonight. Now that I think of it, there's no stamping here! I used polka dot dp and letter stickers, to which I added some liquid applique. The beads are from a scrap piece that I've had for years. I really don't care for my handwriting on here, but the deed is done!
Happy stamping!

Spiderman in Gothic Basin (June 29)

Last Sunday, Mountain Man went on a scramble with the Mountaineers, an outdoors group here in the Seattle area, to Gothic Basin, near Monte Cristo. He's currently in the scramble class, where he has learned ice axe and non-technical climbing skills. This class has seemingly taken forever and eats up our weekends, as they require you to attend lots of scrambles in order to graduate in October.

Unfortunately, his group this past Sunday went too slowly to make it to the peak, so they didn't get credit for the scramble. This isn't good, as he needs a snow scramble by October, but most of them are full and the snow is melting! The good news is that he still had a good time and apparently the cramp-ons paid for themselves, just in this one day! They climbed some pretty steep snowbanks and he was feeling a little uneasy sliding around in his boots, so he finally decided to pull out the cramp-ons since he lugged them all the way up there. The result: Mountain Man morphed into Spiderman and climbed the snow walls with ease and confidence.
Click on the photo to enjoy his Gothic Basin Photo gallery.

Happy hiking!

Swiffer

She may not look like much to you, but she made my day! I've always used my Swiffer for the floors, but when trying to get creative and figure out what I could use to clean my walls and reach high enough to get the spider webs, I happened upon the Swiffer. Why not?! At first, I covered it with the regular swiffer cover, but quickly discovered that it just wasn't working due to some of the rougher textures of the walls and wood, so I replaced it with an old white wash cloth.
Not only did it reach the ceiling...but it got the tops of the baseboards, too, (saving my back)...and the hard-to-reach areas!Just for a little perspective, in the last picture, I was standing where the swiffer is leaning and was able to reach up between the windows. Isn't it cool? I was even able to do the window sills!

What would have normally taken me all morning, I was able to do in about an hour and a half! Now that's efficiency!

If you've got some major cleaning to do, I hope I've inspired you with a more efficient way to clean. And for those of you that were already doing this, shame on you for not sharing! ;^)

Okay, off to vacuum!
Happy cleaning!