Day of the Condor

Yesterday, my sweet husband and I went on a Condor watch. We've seen what we thought were California Condors before, but were never sure. About a year ago, we were at a concert in a nearby canyon when I looked above and so high above the cliffs was this giant bird soaring on the evening thermals. I told my husband that I thought it was a condor, but he said it was probably just an eagle. I told him at that height, those wings were just too big to be an eagle's. I came home and researched only to find that Condors are in this area. Then, last spring, we were at Bryce Canyon National Park. There, again, were about a dozen or so of these huge black birds. This time, it was me who doubted my husband when he said those birds were condors. I told him they were probably turkey vultures, LOL. Well, I was wrong. They were condors.

Yesterday, along with about 25 other watchers armed with cameras, tripods, hats, and enthusiasm, we braved the heat to watch for the birds. We saw some soaring on the air currents. It was nice, but they were really high up. We left and went to a little overlook that we often visit to have a picnic. On the way back, we both saw them - huge, black, airborne, and treed! I was so excited! We were about 50 feet from them at the most. One was perched in an old dead tree. Others were flying overhead. Then, all of a sudden, another condor flew down to rest on another of the branches. I managed to snap a photo just as it came in for a landing! It was soooooooooooooo special! There are plenty of life's miracles and this was one of them - something that few people witness. I think we saw about a dozen yesterday. We'll return later this week in the evening to see if we can catch them again. What a thrill!

I've been scrapping and card making. You've heard me whine about making cards before. It just takes me too long to make a card! It can take me hours just to make one. I feel as if it's a waste of time. LOL I love scrapbooking and I love the results. I want to get better at card making. In order to improve, you have to practice, right? I am so into Magnolia stamps. Those little characters are just adorable. I've been watercoloring them rather than use colored pencils or markers.

Well, enough of that jibberish. Here are some layouts I did this month. There are more, which I'll upload later.

The first LO is of DS. My husband and I were at our beach house on the Oregon Coast when DS flew up to spend some time with us. Here you see him at Portland International Airport. What you can't see is that his hair was blue. His dad and I were so impressed - NOT!!! Imagine waiting at the gate for your sweet son, and this blue haired young man comes into the terminal. Parental Shock!

I do think it was worse one year, while in high school, when he flew to Portland from a trip in Europe to join us. It was two summers after 9-11. People were pretty skitterish. Imagine our surprise when he stepped into the terminal wearing a maroon fez! We wanted to die! I was terrified someone would take a shot at him! He has such dark hair and eyes. His face had a beard and mustache. Oh, he looked so Middle Eastern! I wish i had a photo of him in that fez! Hence, the title - Mr. Personality!


Mr. Personality

The next LO is of that same young man on his sixth birthday. It was prior to his birthday party. He was playing around our pool. He looked so sweet! I loved that outfit! In this LO, I used Heidi Swapp Ghost flowers which I outlined in white to make them stand out. Each flower has a rhinestone brad in the center. The colors found in that PP are gorgeous as is the Prism CS used for the circle.


Bloom Where You are Planted

I got clever on this last layout. I love nature photos and this photo was a perfect match for the colors found in the butterfly PP behind the photo. Well, how did I get clever? The white border on the left is the peel off part left behind after removing the sticker portion. (See LO #1) I looked at that and knew I could use it. I ran it through my Xyron and placed adhesive on the back. I got two gorgeous borders from one strip! The white glittered alphas are Thickers. Aren't they special? You can get the items used from 4 Scrappy Sisters. It's their July Petite Kit. I even had more goodies I didn't use in that kit. It's a great buy!


Spring

If you haven't read the Twilight Series by Stephenie Meyer, please try to find time to read this romance novel. Start with the first book in the trilogy - Twilight. Oh, Edward....*sigh* You know it's bad when you call your husband Edward and ask him to step into the sunlight to see if he sparkles!

One last emotive comment. My husband and I have had such a feeling of loss with the passing of television journalist, Tim Russert. He was such a teddy bear of a man. I was never interested in politics until I started watching his weekly shows. His sense of balance and sweet personality made him so likable. I learned so much from him. State Senator Joe Leiberman referred to Tim as "The Explainer-in-Chief." What a perfect title! I used to think television shows such as "Meet the Press" were for old people. When Mr. Russert began moderating these programs, it became part of our Sunday routine. He will be sorely missed.
Blessings to you, Mr. Russert. We should all live our life with the integrity you displayed in yours.

Thank you for visiting. I am so glad you stopped by. I hope you will return! Have a good one!

Chris

The Heat is On!

Ugh! The air conditioner has been running all week. The dreaded summer is just around the corner! It won't get cool again until early November *sigh.*

Nothing much is new. Our son and daughter-in-law are happy and having fun getting into the Portland (Oregon) frame of mind. They love all the things there is to do there. Vegas, when compared to Portland (or even St. George for that matter) is filled with nothing. Vegas has made it so that kids have nothing to do, and they wonder why kids are getting into trouble. Here, there are so many things for kids and families to do. It is such a joy to be where family activities are important and plentiful!

I've been playing with some new toys. I bought about 30 new stamps to play with! I've made two cards so far. It takes me almost as long to make a card as it does to make a layout. I see a problem in that, LOL!

Here are some of the things I've been working on:



My Joy

For this layout, I wanted to include a few photos to show the action of my two boys on the state at Zion National Park. I tried to make the center strip of photos resemble postage stamps. I chose to use black and white photos so that they wouldn't compete with the colors of the layout. I used Basic Grey's Boxer line for the alpha stickers, element stickers, PPs, buttons, brads, etc. I really love the new lines.



Thank You Card

This is one of my new stamps. I used water colors to color the image and some Stickles for the angle wings. I thought that this was a good way to use up some of the OLD PAPER I just seem to collect and not use.

Here is the last card:



Thank You Card

Once again, I water colored the image. You cannot tell, but there is some depth to the apron. I think the flash washed it out. I just love these little images.

You know, my mom had a huge Hummel collection. Some were the really big ones (over 8 inches). I don't know where they are now, but these little characters just remind me of the Hummels. Each one has a little personality.

Thank you for stopping by! I hope you will return. How do I get you to leave a comment? LOL

Have a good one,

Chris

What's New in the Blogosphere?

Well, I'm frustrated with computers. I just don't know enough to know what to do when things go wrong. My airport card isn't working on my Mac Book Pro. It went to the shop where they kept it for 10 days only to send it home without replacing the airport card! So, now, my baby is being sent back to Apple for the repair. Oh how I miss our son!

The temperatures have risen. It's been over 100°. Yesterday, we went to the grocery store in the early morning just to beat the heat. I hate summer. It is so much better to spend summer in Utah than it was in Las Vegas even though we had a pool in the back yard. It was just too hot to go outside. The pool felt like a bathtub by July.

I've been busy scrapbooking and making cards. I had a lovely card making class last week. The gals left with some nice cards to use for weddings. I should post them for you to see. I've decided to get some Magnolia stamps for my card making. I think I've ordered about 20 or 25 of them. I can't wait for them to get here! Magnolia stamps are like a stamper's version of Hummels! Each character is adorable and with a personality of its own.

Oh, I got a third LO accepted in the Basic Grey gallery! I was so surprised! I feel so blessed for so many reasons!

Here are some of the LOs I've been working on:

I fell in love with the Basic Grey Archaic line only to fall in love with the Cupcake line! I know the Cupcake line was intended for birthdays, but I had to use it for this clown photo. Bobo the Clown came to DS's fifth birthday. When I saw the papers, I knew what photos to include. What do you think?


Bobo the Clown

This photo is of DS in clown clothes. I thought this LO just looked so happy and cheerful! I used the Fiskar's embossing border punch and love the effect! The "dots" are rub ons. I chose to color the centers to make the LO look more festive. Sometimes, I think of things which surprise myself!


Just Clowin' Around

If you haven't seen the bicycle paper in this line, you are missing something! Again, the minute I saw the bicycles, I knew which photos had to go with the paper! Each year, the schools in Las Vegas have a bicycle rodeo to emphasize bicycle safety. This is DS in 2nd grade. He was focusing so hard! Look at those skinny legs! LOL


Bicycle Rodeo

I also got to play with the new Jenni Bowlin papers. I just love the brown line. I want more! I did a photo of my sweet better half. I added lime green to add some interest and break up the color. I added lots of layering so that I could use all of the papers, LOL.


HE...

The last layout is of DS in fifth grade. I just love, love, love this line of Dream Street papers. It's called Birdie bits. I have more and want to play with them as soon as I can.

Would someone please tell me how to use a border punch around corners? I centered the punch and went from side to side. Then, when I tried to work around the corners, the flowers just wouldn't line up. Messy, messy, messy. It was so frustrating as I kept trying really hard.


A Little Birdie Told Me

I hope each of you had a wonderful Mother's Day. I was given tons of scrapbooking supplies (as if I needed more). I have such wonderful guys!

Thank you so much for stopping by! I'd love it if you left a comment! Oh, anyone need a Fastenator?

XO
Chris

It's May!!!

How was your National Scrapbook Day? I was busy all day helping scrappers work their little tushies off! We had a lot of fun! I've included some photos below of the challenges we did.

Nothing much is new. I did have two layouts accepted into the Basic Grey Gallery. I don't know if I've shared that before. I am sooooooooo excited that they've selected two! I'm still playing with the Archaic line. It was made for this dinosaur freak! I love everything about it! I picked up some Boxer, Sultry, and Sugared to play with as well. After my card making class, I'll get busy playing with those.

I have a lot of LOs to share. I hope you don't mind my sharing them. If my son is reading this, yes, that is your father modeling the bra! It was HIS idea to put on the chain!

Here are the layouts:

The first photo is of a bra we had to alter for a NSD challenge. We had so much fun doing this challenge! Even DH got into it - Literally!!!!


Altered Bra

The next LO was my take on another challenge recipe. I used navy blue as the background color. I just loved the colors on the PP. They are my colors - bright, warm, and happy!


FLY

The next LO was based on a sketch given to our site by Becky Fleck for NSD. The yellow color just looks yucky! It is such a soft yellow. You'd never know it, though! This is DS when he thought it would be cute to crawl into the lower basket of his changing table. LOL Silly goose! Am I a trendsetter? I punched a border along the three photos using the Fiskars Threaded Water Punch. Maybe I've cone up with a new idea!


PEEK-A-BOO!

I wanted to use the new Boxer line. I loved the colors of the PP with this photo. I do NOT like how the green alphas look. They are just lost in the photo while IRL they look fine because they have a glittered surface. This is my dream home. If I could build one just like it, I would in a heartbeat! I think DH would also go along with me on this one. This lovely home is located in the West Hills area of Portland, OR. It is what I've always called, "My Hobbit House." The round windows are clear glass, but segmented like stained glass. Embedded in the cuts is a huge spider web. Everything is just so special about this home. Look at the lines of the roof.


MY DREAM HOME

Thank you so much for stopping by. I am always delighted to have visitors!

Have a good one,

Chris

Happy Friday!

Without further ado, the winner of my RAK is KerryS. Kerry, would you please e-mail your address to me? Kerry has won the much coveted Fiskars Threading Water Border Punch! I'll have another RAK in the near future so come back again!

Things here have been hectic. I've been working on four major projects - two are alteration projects, the third is planning National Scrapbook Day activities, and the last is preparing for my monthly card making class! I have to tell you about my alteration projects. One is a little carrier that I'm doing using the Basic Grey Archaic Line. I love my dinosaurs!

The second project is altering a bra! Yes, you read that right. I'm altering a bright red bra! This is for a challenge, LOL. My sweet husband was at Wal-Mart to get some things. He knew I needed a bra for the challenge, so he, without my asking, picked one up. He called me to tell me what he had done and was laughing his head off. I said, "I bet you bought a 36 D!" DH looked at the bra and was just roaring - he HAD BOUGHT THE 36 D!!! What is it with men and boobs? LOL Well, I told him how much I appreciated what he had done and then asked if he might go back and exchange it for a B cup because it would take a lot more embellishments to cover a D cup than a B cup!!! LOL I just love my husband!

The third project is preparing cards for my card making class which is quickly approaching. Shhhh - don't tell the gals in the class, but we're making cards that will work for a wedding (June is a high volume month) as well as graduation. We'll use nice black, white, cream, and grey as the colors. I hope it goes well.

I had a very sad thing happen - nothing serious, but still sad to me. My e-mail program was acting up. We only have Apple computers. The ISP companies generally do NOT know a lot about Apple computers. To make a long, sad story a short, sad story, in the process of establishing a new connection with my e-mail address, I lost 183 messages that were in my In box and 37 messages that were in my drafts box. I was sick, physically sick. In my in box were all the e-mails with photos that our DS had sent from his adventures in the Pacific Northwest. I kept them there because I could quickly review them and then scrapbook them. They are gone. In my drafts box were all messages I wanted to keep safe. That wasn't very safe since they, too, are now gone! Let's see, that was on Tuesday afternoon. Today, Friday, is the first day the black cloud isn't hanging over my head. They are gone and there is no way of retrieving them. Oh well.....

Here are the photos for one of my projects. I called this my Quiet Carrier for Church. Little boys tend to get restless at times during services. So, using the Basic Grey Archaic line (fibers, paper, stickers, rub ons, chipboard stickers, Grime rub ons), I created this little carrier. It holds 4 mini containers that are compartmentalized. Perfect for tucking some Cheerios, little toys, or other little goodies to help keep a little man quiet as long as possible. I hope you like them!



Quiet Carrier for Church - FRONT



Quiet Carrier for Church - BACK

Once again, congratulations to Kerry S. Thank you - ALL of you for stopping by my blog. I do so appreciate your visits. I love your comments even more.

Have a good one,

Chris

Happy Tax Day!!! (only if you get a refund)

Happy National Procrastination Day!!!!!!!!!!Enjoy your tax refunds! I'll be thinking of you as you hold that check in your hot little hands. *grumble*

For about 15 years, I worked as a writer for an international educational publisher, The Education Center located in Greensboro, NC. Oh, the thrill of walking into a teacher store and seeing books that you had helped write (with your name on the title), seeing your activities and units published in their bimonthly publications (with your name on the masthead). I loved writing!

Well, on a lark, I submitted to Basic Grey. I received an e-mail yesterday that my LO was accepted! I was just so surprised! Thank you Basic Grey! I am thrilled!!!!!!!!!!!

How would you like some blog candy? Just leave a comment for today's post. I'll draw a name on April 25! Those of you who have received my RAKs know that I send good ones!!!

I have some layouts to share with you. I hope you like them.

The photo on this LO has much meaning to it. We love it so much. The original photo has huge tears in it as well as scrapes and creases. I had to do a lot of restorative work in order to rescue it! I printed it using sepia tones so that it would contrast nicely with the PP as well as reflect the time of the photo (1920). Gram and Granddad always dressed perfectly as shown in this photo. We miss them very much.



Cherish

The next photo is of DS wearing a Stegosaurus costume I made for him when he was in kindergarten. It is stuffed with cotton batting and has a long tale with the back plates getting smaller as they go toward the tail tip. I made it in an olive green with cream colored plates. LOL The PP is the new Archaic Line from Basic Grey. To make the frame around the photo, I took a piece of BG paper and soaked it so that I could easily scrunch it up. I let it dry and inserted the photo after applying it to the LO.



What is a Nicholasaurus rex?

I came across this photo the other night and just knew what PP I would use. Keeping with the thief theme, I used the new Sassafrass Lass Whale of a Tale PP. I love that line! There is a companion line for little girls. It is sooo cute and so workable!



Thief of Our Hearts

I hope you had a nice visit. Thank you so very much for stopping by!

TGIF!!!

The wind is blowing again today. We've got the house all closed up to keep out any pollens that always affect DH and myself. It is supposed to hit 80° over the weekend. The dreaded summer is all too quickly approaching. Yuk!

We had a lovely visit w/ DS & DDIL. DDIL passed her orals and now has a Masters in English! We're so proud of her! I wish they were closer. It is so darn hard when they leave. I know it'll be months before we see them again. I don't know how families with members in the military services tough it out! Blessings to them!

I haven't been up to much. I've been working on design team layouts all week. I did have time to squeeze in two just for fun! LOL It feels good to do one just because... This LO is of DS when he was 4, I think. DH and I haven't looked closely at it yet to determine DS's age. This was in June or July on the Oregon Coast. We always loved the Oregon Coast and spent every summer there until a couple of years ago. I got to playing with my star punches. It was nice to use them again. I've had them in my punch basket for quite some time. I think they were one of the very first punches I bought. I think a set of circles was first, and my set of stars came second. Here it is:



I Am Reminded

I forgot I had another LO completed. This one journals how our sweet son got his name. Being educators, it was really hard to pick a name! DH or I would pick a name and one of us would say, "No, I had a kid once named that and he talked all day," or something similar. So we named our son after a child on TV who later grew up to be on drugs. Go figure. Maybe we should have stuck with Gunnar!



How You Got Your Name

I hope to do more layouts over the weekend. I hope I get to work on them. I'll post when they are done. I want to try a couple of new techniques. If they turn out decently, I'll be sure to share.

Are you doing anything special for National Scrapbook Day on May 3rd? That day is just a couple of weeks away!

Thank you for stopping by!

Chris