Enjoy the Journey

Hope your weekend was great.  I had a good one.  Saturday I did my class at Stamper’s Alley and afterwards, my friend Judy and I went to lunch together.  Aren’t friends great?! 

As I’m typing this, I’m waiting on my daughter to arrive.  She turned over her condo keys to the realtor yesterday and left her place in DC for the last time.  We were sure hoping she’d get a contract before she left (like maybe from the couple who have been back to see it 4-5 times!!) but it didn’t happen.   All she can do is wait.  In the meantime, she’ll be staying with friends or in a hotel for a while.  If it drags on too long, she’ll have to rent a place in San Antonio.  The Army will store her stuff for 90 days. 

I’m excited to share this book with you that I made for Ashley.  The title is Enjoy the Journey and I thought it would be ideal for her Kenya pictures and journals of her trip.  I bought the kit at CK Convention last week from The Button Farm and I really like the way it turned out.  Their instructions are the best!!  Plus, I added a few touches of my own – buttons, brads, etc.  And, I kept some of the pages plain so Ashley could embellish as she wants.  Each page is an envelope so you can insert pictures, memorabilia, journaling, etc.

This is the front of the book:

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Here are a few of the pages:

My Final Shape Class

I’m teaching the final “shape” class on Saturday at Stamper’s Alley so I’ve been getting ready today – cutting my paper, etc.  I always wait until the last day or two it seems like.  Although this time, I had gotten prepared a little early but didn’t get enough kits together.  Which is a good thing – more people signed up yesterday so that makes me happy!  This time we are doing a clothes theme – bikini, kimono, girlie dress and little boy’s overalls.  I like this one best of all!

A good thing happened today too!  I have been looking for my Oval Nestabilities for about a week.  I figured they were in my craft room somewhere but I was starting to panic!  I’ve been losing sleep over this, friends!  I went to Stampers Alley today and asked if maybe I’d left them there & Brenda Mott said she hadn’t seen them, but she remembered me bringing them in a couple of weeks ago to measure for my September class.  Well, then I figured they had to be in my car somewhere.  After searching my car …. twice …. no luck!  I was getting scared I had lost them for good.  After dinner, I came upstairs and was just staring at my shelves when …. voila, there they were!!  They were stuck in with my H20’s.  I’m sure what I did was pick them up with my H20’s last week & put them all on the shelf together.   Well, now they are in their rightful place and I can get a good night’s sleep!!

Tonight is my daughter’s last night in her condo.  The packers came today and packed all her stuff.  They will bring the moving van tomorrow and load her stuff up.  She is spending the next 2 nights with one of her girlfriends and will be arriving here on Sunday.  Her condo is still for sale.  She has been getting a lot of “lookers” so hopefully, one of them will make an offer SOON!  We will probably leave here on Tuesday to start our trek to Texas.  Our plans are to stop at a beach along the way (possibly Ft Walton or Destin), New Orleans, Houston and then San Antonio.  I’m really looking forward to it.  Ashley and I have such a good relationship and these trips are so much fun for both of us.

Last Week’s Monday Mailer

I received my Monday Mailer card from Ellie right before I went to CK last week.  It uses the Medallion again!  And now, I’ve gone and ordered it myself so you’ll be seeing some cards with it from moi!!

Here’s Ellie’s version …. and a great one I think!!

Aren’t those colors great together??

Live & Laugh

I love those words …. live & laugh! That’s what life is about, isn’t it? We all need to heed those words and not sweat the small stuff! I had such fun today finishing up a couple of the projects from the CK classes. Who knows, at this rate, I may even finish the projects from last year??!! The acrylic album I am sharing with you today is from the Button Farm. The directions that came with the kit were about the best I’ve ever seen – so easy to follow. Check out the kits and don’t be afraid to order one of them – you will be able to put it together in no time! Now I just have to find some pictures for this one OR you may be seeing this album later as a GIVEAWAY!! I have never done any blog candy but I am thinking about doing some giveaways when I return from my trip in early September. I have been getting some really nice e-mails from some of you about my blog and it really has made my day! Thank you so much for your comments & keep them coming!! At least I know there is someone out there reading my blog.

Remember - you can click on the pictures to see the whole thing.

This is the front of the book.

Page 2 & 3 – notice how each page mirrors the one before it so you can’t see the back of the images through the acrylic.

Isn’t this paper great? It’s by Basic Grey. The page with the 4 squares is actually a transparency that was added to made an additional page for the book.

A square was cut out of the page on the right for a picture.

That lettering on the page on the right is actually on the next page – you can just see it through the acrylic.

Another transparency added page -

THE END! What do you think?

A little of this and a little of that

Sorry I've been MIA!! I had a great time at CK Convention this weekend in Charlotte and spent way too much $$$$!!! When my last class was over on Saturday, Sonny picked me up and we drove up to the Shelton Winery for a get-together with friends ... a little wine and a little Embers beach music in concert! It was a wonderful night - not too hot and a little breeze blowing. Sunday we went out on the boat for a few hours and then to my sister's for BBQ. And today was spent at the Y, but we ended up canceling out that workout by going for lunch at O'Charley's. Sonny had fish & chips and I had shrimp & grits, not to mention the "to die for" hot wheat rolls we had!

I took several classes at CK and will be posting pictures of them when I get them all finished. They just get you through the hard parts of the project and leave the rest for you to finish on your own. Here's a picture of Sharon, Marianne & me at our final class.

My daughter got back home safe and sound from Africa and has over 800 pictures to share with us! So far, I've just seen about 50 pictures that she posted on Facebook and they are incredible!! Here are two pictures that were my favorites - the cheetah out in the wild and posing for a picture! And, the lion hiding in the grasses!

My grandson turned 3 on Friday and my daughter in law made the cutest Mickey Mouse cake for his party (not without some issues with the fondant frosting though!)

Monday Mailer / Christmas Card

Here’s the Monday Mailer I sent this week. This is from a new Hostess Set …. The More the Merrier. This set will have a lot of use – Christmas, Halloween birthdays … very versatile! I ran the Sahara Sand through the Big Shot using the Top Note, then turned it 90 degrees and ran it through again to make the shape that I stamped on. I colored the button with ink and used Chunky Glitter on the card. Hope you like it!

I won’t be posting for a couple of days. I’m waiting for Marianne to pick me up to go to uptown Charlotte. We are attending the CK Convention and spending 2 nights at the Hilton!! I am so excited! Just hope I can keep my spending in check!!

Safari Adventures

My daughter should be headed home from Kenya soon. I can't wait to hear all the stories. Here is what she put on Facebook about her safari last weekend -

The camp (Kilima Camp) was amazing...I would highly recommend it to anyone who is planning on visiting the Masai Mara. It was situated at the top of a mountain overlooking the Mara River/plain with beautiful view. The tents were amazing - a huge canvas tent complete with a bathroom (shower, toilet, sink). After a quick lunch, we were on a game drive with our driver, James, who turned out to be quite the pro. Dan and I still think there was someone driving ahead of us releasing animals for us to see...I never expected there to be so many. On our first 3 hr drive, we saw four of the "big five" - elephants, lions, buffalo, and a leopard...missing only the rhino, which is reportedly the most difficult to spot. We saw TONS of wildebeest, zebras, and giraffes...also, warthogs, hyenas, gazelles, topi, waterbuck, and probably tons of stuff I've forgotten.

We headed out farther into the park to find the places where the wildebeest were crossing the river - hoping to see the crocodiles try to attack them. I can't say that I was too disappointed to see "nature" in action...we saw them wade into the water to drink, but never actually saw a crossing. We did see a few lions attempt to hunt -- the wildebeest and warthogs were lucky as it was a bit hot and the lions didn't seem to be on their "A" game. We had lunch along the river overlooking dozens of hippos and a handful of crocodiles. At about 3pm, we began to head back when I told James that I really wanted to see a rhino...I kid you not, about 15 minutes later he pulled up right in front of one (that's 5 of the big 5 - hooray!!)

After breakfast, we went on a walk with a couple of Masai warriors which was different, in a good way, from the game drives. They pointed out all of the different trees, fruits, etc that they use for medicines, building materials, and the like. On top of that, we walked right up on animals grazing outside the park -- somehow, the zebras, giraffes, gazelles, and warthogs were much cooler when you were standing near them versus seeing them outside the car window! Dan really wanted to see a dikdik and the guides were trying their best. (This is again where I think someone was scaring one up to put out for us to see.) The guides stopped to give us an archery demonstration; as he started to line up the shot, he stooped and said, "There's a dikdik!" Sure enough, after careful stalking we managed to catch a glimpse of one running away.

What an adventure she has had!

Last Week’s Monday Mailer

I want to share the Monday Mailer card I received last week.  It uses the Medallion background stamp.  When I first saw this stamp in the catalog, I was not impressed …. even though it is one of Shellie’s favorites.  But as time has gone on and I have seen a lot of the fabulous cards others have made with this stamp, I have it on my list to order!  

She stamped (and embossed) the Medallion in Vanilla Craft Ink on the Razzleberry cardstock.  It is then layered onto a Vanilla card and the edges have been distressed.  The ribbon is the polka dot Razzleberry ribbon (turned over) layered onto a piece of Vanilla Grosgrain ribbon with a button that I believe she colored to match.  Isn’t it great?

Birthday Celebration

This week was my nephew’s 20th birthday!  Wow …. doesn’t seem like he should be that old.  Or for that matter, that my sister should be old enough to have a 20 year old!!  I used to change HER diapers and his!!  Like I’ve said before, how time flies when you’re having fun!!  We celebrated his birthday Friday night at a local Japanese restaurant and a good time was had by all.  I think he is set now with gift certificates from grocery stores, Wal Mart, etc. to stock his apartment when he returns to college next week.

I made a gift card holder from the Top Note die and it was so easy! 

Remember …. click on the pictures to see them larger.

Here’s the birthday boy! 

Here’s the family (minus Harrison – think the food got to him - he escaped to the bathroom for about 30 minutes!!)

Here’s a cute picture of Marianne & me -

Adventures from Myrtle Beach to Kenya!

How life changes over the years! When I was a teenager, I thought I was being daring and adventurous by finding a summer job away from home one year. I went to Myrtle Beach, SC with a college friend and waitress-ed at a hotel restaurant. What adventures we had that summer!! Another summer, I volunteered for Head Start as a teacher's aide. I had never been around that many poor children and it was a heart warming adventure - quite different from my Myrtle Beach experience!!

Well, I guess if I were a teenager now, in order to be adventurous or daring, I would spend my summers overseas or perhaps on an African Safari!! That is what my daughter is doing. She has been in Kenya for 2 weeks doing Infectious Disease research at a local lab there. She has finished with her work - very early - and has changed her reservations to return home next Wednesday. Depending on flight delays, etc., she should be back in DC Thursday or Friday and will begin out-processing from Walter Reed for her move to Brooks Army Medical Hospital (San Antonio). In the meantime, she has had her own adventures and I can't wait to hear all the details! Last weekend, she went to a village with one of the medical school students who is working with her and they stayed with his family for a typical Kenya weekend. Here are a few of her comments to us about her visit:

Lunch was "a typical Kenyan lunch (although certainly a feast) of rice, ugali (which is a "loaf" of flour which tastes somewhat like grits), cabbage, sukumawiki (a green similar to spinach), and beef stew"

"As everywhere else, CocaCola has a huge impact here with the standards of Coke and Fanta along with some new names -- Krest ("bitter lemon") and Stoney (ginger beer)."

"breakfast (the Kenyans have this food thing down well!) of donuts, chapati, pound cake, and bread with jam. And, of course, tea -- good Kenyan chai tea. "

"time for church...definitely an experience. African Pentecostal Church...no less than 3 people collapsed in convulsions and had to have the demons "cast out." They translated their traditional tribal language (Luo) into English especially for our benefit -- we were introduced to the congregation and they said special prayers for our "safe journeys." After church was lunch -- more typical Kenyan fare plus roast and fried chicken that we had watched them pluck the night before! "

This weekend, she is on a Safari in the Masai Mara National Park. Because of doing work there in the lab, they were able to get a good deal of the safari rates so they decided to splurge on their accommodations. They were originally going to pitch a tent in the park but instead made reservations at Kilima Camp. Here is a link to their site where you can see pictures and read about it. This is the high season for the wildebeasts so she is hopeful she will get her money's worth!! I think she will. Looks like such fun!! Sure can't compare to Myrtle Beach but I have my memories too which are precious to me.