I want to thank anyone and everyone who has left comments or gone away with a wee bit of creative inspiration from the cards I've made or trips I've taken. My creativity seems to have become a little dry as work and family life have overtaken my time.
So, this will be my last post here to let you know there won't be any more. I will hopefully continue to make a few cards for the shops I have sold to, people I love and sanity it gave me.
I will be poking my nose into your blogs from time to time and I go away having truly enjoyed this little adventure I called "The Joy of Cards".
After a whole year of waiting we finally got to leave on our cruise! Yes, we booked this last August and have been counting down ever since. Chad dropped us off at Canada Place and away we went!
Our room was HUGE! At least compared to the other cruises I'd been on. It was perfect for the 3 of us. We spent much time in our room because of the view so it was the cruise to have the extra space. Don't these two look like a couple of little kids excited for Disneyland? They kept me laughing all week! It really is different travelling with just girls and they were so gracious to let me tag along!
My daily dose: of view.... (yes, this is our room and that is a pic of only half the window!!!)
Our daily dose of..... ice cream! Hmmm, hmm good! I miss the ice cream!
Our daily dose of..... room service! This was the funniest one as it was like pulling teeth to get them to deliver something that wasn't specifically on their little menu. I had to beg them to send just some chips not the hot dog and they sent this huge dish! We all had our fill and it looked like we hardly touched it!
We did have breakfast delivered almost everyday. Fruit, muffins, toast, yogurt, coffee & hot chocolate were our usuals.
Ya, Pam and Laura kept me laughing. They were wayyyyy to excited for a sing-along Abba night! I've got some choice video to prove this too!!! hehehe I makes me laugh just thinking about them!
Yes, they both were chair dancing, throwing kisses and just plain crazy! I couldn't stop laughing! And neither could anyone watching them!!! They were they main attraction!
"I'm too excited to sleep" Pam wanted a nap and Laura thought otherwise! I caught many choice pics of them!
We had 3 stops and we took a tour in each one. Our first stop was Ketchikan and we had a silly ride on the Duck Tour! So funny! They called it an amphibious vehicle, first you drive through the town then you drive right into the water and your a boat! It really was perfect because we had some rain here and we were safe and dry!
I also have many pics of Laura taking pics! We were such tourists! (And Pam was always smiling!)
In Juneau we had a tour up into a temperate rain forest. This golf cart took us up the hillside to a lookout point. Our driver was the accountant so we thought of Chad. Ahhhh!
It was amazing what can grow without sunshine. The forest was thick with misty fog yet green and lush. We saw an eagles nest in the distance and the local owl.
They also had this green house to walk through which had to most gynormous hanging baskets we had ever seen! Pam and I thought of mom every step of the way in here! She would have LOVED it!
Then the bus took us on to the Mendenhall Glacier. This is what I'd been waiting for! I could have sat there for hours just taking it all in.
The blue color the ice takes is stunning!
There are not very many pics of the 3 of us but this one makes me smile!
Our 3rd and final stop was in Skagway. We were here for 12 hours so we got the chance to take a 5 hour jeep ride into Yukon! We took turns driving and followed our guide. There were 6 jeeps all together ( I think) driving, stopping at some sights and driving some more!
We actually drove through BC on our way to Yukon and then back to Skagway.
Then back on the ship for 2 days at sea before getting back home. We had amazing weather, hours of watching the world go by and the peace and rest that I needed.
Now back to reality....
Yes, I've been playing with acetate! It is the clear stuff that you used to use for overhead projectors! I found an old box of it somewhere. You can pick it up at any stationary store or for better quality stuff CHF sells clear card sheets which are WAY thicker! All I did was cut a strip and attach it along the right hand side. The scallop oval and jewels are on top on it---
Anyway, this was a card I was asked to do for a class but it didn't work out. So, I thought I'd share it with you! The Bella is colored with Copics which worked really well on this patterned paper. It makes such a difference what kind of paper you color on! This is Sugar by Cosmo Cricket and Prism cardstock.
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Well, I'm off camping for a week, have a couple days at home and then to Alaska!!! I hope you are having a wonderful summer too!
Yes, I had to play with a few images that required a wee bit more time than all the little ones I did for cards! :) This one is actually stamped on a sheet of acetate with Stazon and then colored on the reverse side. Get it?
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It took some getting used to, but with a little patience and and swaks of markers I blended, blended and blended until I was happy. The great thing about acetate is if something isn't working you can wipe it off and start over.
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Blending is also very different on acetate and so is the depth and brightness of the colors but it was fun to try something different!
The clouds in TK images always give me a bit of trouble. So, I didn't stamp them with the original image. When I was finished coloring I stamped them in white craft ink on the top side! The little hint of blue sky was colored directly onto the box and the clouds have a subtle hint of floating on top! When I was satisfied, I attached it to this varnished, wooden jewelry box. Added the sentiment, ribbons, jewels and flower and my daughter loved it! To make the jewels and hardware brown and also used my Copics to color them. Thanks to their alcohol base, they color so many surfaces!!! LOVE THEM!!!
Last summer a couple special girls in my life decided to go on a big holiday and I get to tag along!!! My sister and her bff wanted to celebrate a big birthday :) we all agreed a cruise was the way to go! So, it didn't take us too long to decide on an Alaskan cruise and find the perfect itinerary and travel date.---
Now, I've been counting down for quite some time and realized yesterday it was time to start celebrating! 3 weeks left!!!
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I've been wanting to make a fun card for the occasion and this is what I came up with! I borrowed these stamps from a friend, Paradise Found at Cornish Heritage Farms, and got to spend some time chatting and stamping at another friends' house! How great is that!!! (Thanks for the invite dear friend, it was just what I needed yesterday!) ---
I also stamped 3 more layouts with this set and will post them as soon as I have them all together!
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Happy stamping!
