random reflections

Maples Out and In

At the end of October we had our old maple tree taken down. I fought it for years, but the tree was old and Tracy was concerned about branches coming down on the house. Matt finally convinced me it was time. Here she is, the morning of her demise.

It is quite a process to take down such a big tree, and we were very impressed with the company who did the job. Here's a look at the process.

The cherry picker and a series of ropes and pulleys safely removed the huge branches.

All the branches were ground up and turned into mulch as they came down. You can see the grinding machine in the next photo.

Gone! The huge trunk was cut into pieces and hauled off in a truck.

I had to admit that one advantage of having this tree removed is the increase in light in our living room. Our neighbors also thanked us, saying the light in their kitchen doubled.

 To sweeten the loss a bit, Tracy promised to have a new tree put in. The old maple was taken down on a Friday and the next week the new maple arrived. It’s a Sunset Red Maple, and I hope to see bright red leaves next fall. It’s supposed to be a quick growing tree, although it will never be as large as the old one in my life time. Putting the new tree in was almost as interesting to watch as taking down the old one. But it certainly didn't take as long.

I think we've done more home improvement projects in just one year than we did in the previous 27 years. Tracy has repainted the whole downstairs, we finally got a big screen TV and rearranged the living room, we've redecorated (and repainted) the guest room, the kitchen has been remodeled, and now the tree. Not that there aren’t plenty more projects to do. But I think we're done for awhile, although Tracy still has some painting projects he'd like to get to.

When I get home, the kitchen will officially be done. The week before we left, the subway tiles went in and the kitchen was painted. After we left, the final coat on the floors was put on, and the light over the kitchen table was hung. We’ve ordered blinds which should come early next month, and then I’ll have photos for you. It really is a dream kitchen---one I never expected to have, and I can’t wait to settle in.

 

 

Happy Thanksgiving from Ashland, Oregon

It’s hard to believe but we’ve been in Oregon for nearly a week. Our goal was to get Sarah and Adam settled, and we’ve made remarkable progress. All the rooms are arranged and organized, all the boxes have been unpacked, and Tracy has nearly all the artwork and photographs hung. We’re planning a pretty low-key Thanksgiving celebration with plenty of time to rest and relax. I’ll have photos of our accomplishments later.

Sarah and Adam are renting a lovely home with quite a beautiful yard and view.

This is the view from their living room. They have the same view from the kitchen and family room, as well as a lovely deck off the family room.

The yard is large, but has a steep drop-off.

In addition to unpacking, Tracy and Adam got some great help in putting up a new fence  in the backyard. Sadie is delighted with the room to run around. Amazingly, a deer leaped over the fence last night, and put Sadie in a fury of excitement. After some time, the deer leaped back over the fence and disappeared.

Ashland is a beautiful small city surrounded by mountains. We were a bit worried about driving up from San Francisco since there had been snow in the Siskiyou Pass where chains are often required. In anticipation we upgraded our rental vehicle to a 4X4 SUV. Fortunately, we didn’t need it, but it’s easy to see why you might. From Siskiyou Summit to Ashland, there’s a drop in elevation of more than 2,000 feet in a pretty short amount of time. It was pitch dark when we drove through last Friday, but the headlights of the traffic lit up the towering, snow-covered evergreens against a star-lit sky. Truly a beautiful sight.

After church on Sunday, we decided to drive up to Mt. Ashland. It was a beautiful, clear day in Ashland, but we found a totally different environment on the road up to the summit.

Clouds totally obscured the summit, but there were some beautiful views of the valley as we drove down.

I hope you and your family are enjoying a wonderful holiday if you’re in the States. I love the opportunity to be with family and take stock of all my many blessings. Being able to travel and spend time with Sarah and Adam is top on my list today. I’m also grateful to Matt’s friends in Denver for including him in their Thanksgiving festivities.

 

 

Happy Anniversary

I have a couple of anniversary cards that I don't think I've shared here. The first one I made the same day I made the get well card I posted earlier this week. I like the versatility of these stamps, and it's easy to make a couple of  cards at once when all the supplies are out.

The first few times I used the "Framed" stamps I had some difficulty with them, but I finally seem to be able to get a clear impression the first time. The little pot is from "Everyday Button Bits."

Here's another anniversary card with a totally different feel. This was for our dear friends who've been married now for 63 years!

More beautiful papers from the Pink Paislee Butterfly Garden Collection, and a sentiment stamp from "Round and Round" by Papertrey Ink. I used some nested heart dies to cut out a burlap and then a felt heart, added a button, and a stick pin from Maya Road (I think.) I have all my stick pins in a pretty glass jar so I'm not always sure which manufacturer to credit!

We're off tomorrow to the west coast for a few days. I'm really looking forward to seeing Sarah and Adam's new home as well as their new surroundings. We'll be back in California before we return for Adam's ordination service, and have an extra day at the end to spend in Berekley and San Francisco before we return. I'm planning to post a few times while we're away, but it's always a bit unpredictable!

Project 64: Purple Mountain Majesty

This week's color at Project 64 was Purple Mountain Majesty. I was always lucky enough to have a big box of crayons when I was growing up, but I'm quite sure there was not any crayon with such an elegant name back then. Purple has been a favorite color of mine recently, and there are many shades and hues of it. The first item that caught my eye this week was my iPhone cover.

I've also purchased a striped turtleneck and vest this fall, but neither were quite the right purple. My new coat, however, and scarf that I purchased a year ago in California are quite right, and I'll be linking this photo over at Project 64.

I must say that it's a bit harder to find colors now that nature's colors are much fewer and much less bright! I looked for Purple Mountain Majesty on all our walks last week, but there was nothing purple left in anyone's gardens. This week's color is orange, and it's a bit easier to find!

Get Well Cards

Sadly, I seem to have more and more reasons to make a get well and feel better cards. Here are two recent ones.

 

No matter how I tried, I couldn't get the felt colors to photograph true to life. The flower is the same color as the background behind the card, and the button is an Orange Zest one from Papertrey Ink. In fact, all the supplies from this cards are from Papertrey. They are definitely my "go-to" stamps and dies.

I love paper-piecing this little chair and like the accompanying sentiment as well. The chair and lamp are from "Chairished" (PTI) and the sentiment is from "On My Couch Additions." I never purchased the original "On My Couch," but got the additions which I've used frequently. 

It's a gray and dreary day here; more like the November I remember from past years than the bright, sunny days we've been enjoying. Hope it's bright and cheerful where you are!

With Sympathy

Sympathy cards are the hardest cards to make, I think. I want them to be a bit elegant, yet clean and simple and to convey my heartfelt sympathy to the recipient. I used the "let the paper work for you" technique again here, and I think it worked well.

I started with a journaling card by Webster's Pages, stamped the sentiment (Papertrey Ink's Birds of a Feather), and tied a ribbon (Paper Source) around the Memory Box card. I can always find an appropriate sentiment for the inside in Papertrey's With Sympathy set. 

For this card I used a piece of paper from Pink Paislee's "Butterfly Garden" mini-pad adhered to some Ripe Avocado cardstock by Papertrey Ink. These printed papers are almost gone now, and I wish I had some more of them. I used the same stamp, and my last piece of moss green ribbon from Paper Source.

We've kept up the frantic pace around here. The basement has been cleaned and purged; many bags to the garbage and to Goodwill. There's still a large box of heirloom items from my family that need to be cleaned and appraised after the holidays, but finally everything has a place and is packed away in plastic boxes or bags so they won't need so much cleaning in the future.

I've just about finished two baby albums, but they can't be shown here for awhile as well as another banner for a second shower. About half my Christmas cards are finished. The rest will have to wait until I return from California and Oregon with a fresh supply of paper from Paper Source. Invitations to a holiday open house are also completed so they can be mailed before we leave.

The subway tiles were installed in the kitchen last week, and they look fantastic. We're still waiting for the painters, but I'm hopeful they'll show up this week though our contractor has yet to get a firm commitment from them. Maybe because it's the last thing that needs to be done (except for a final finish on the floor), and maybe because it's now been twice as long as the original estimate of time, but this delay is the most frustrating one we've had. I never expected I'd be decorating for the holidays and the kitchen would not be completed. But, that too, is happening since we'll be entertaining shortly after we return. I do love decorating for Christmas, but it seems odd to be moving from summer decorations right to Christmas. I never did get the fall decorations out. With the construction, it seemed rather pointless. Our unusually warm November temperatures also make decorating for the holiday seem a bit odd.

I'm doing the best I can to keep up with all your wonderful blog posts, but once I'm on our trip I should be able to catch up!

Thank You Card Set

Both Rinda and Jacky have posted recently about letting patterned paper work for you, and stamping directly on paper. I did a bit of both with this set of thank you cards to three friends who gifted me with a wonderful children's book and painted stool for Skylar. A painted stool for Caleb is in the works. 

I love these patterned papers from the mini pad "Sunshine" Lost and Found by My Minds Eye. All three papers came from the pad and were adhered to Vintage Cream cardstock by Papertrey Ink. The stamps were Fillable Frames #1 and #11 (sentiment). The nice thing about cards like this is once you pick the papers, the cards come together very easily.

And Happy Veteran's Day, and a heartfelt thanks to all the veterans who have defended our freedom throughout the years!

Project 64: Dandelion and More iPhone Fun

This week's color at Project 64 has been dandelion. I was pretty amazed to find dandelions still blooming as we walked to our polling place to vote yesterday. All four of these photos were taken with the iPhone (we keep track of our walks on an app called Runkeeper so I always have my iPhone with me), and for the first time, I edited them on the iPhone as well with an app called Photogene. It was pretty easy, and then I used an app called Frame It that Adam told me about to gather them into a collage. The VW was in the shadows so I used an app I downloaded for free this morning called Camera Flash which lightened it right up. I find these apps so amazing. For some reason I've felt rather intimidated by the thought of editing a photo on the phone itself. Should have been trying this a long time ago!

This is the photo I'm posting at Project 64, taken with the Hipstamatic app at a cute little deli in Mt. Morris where we had a yummy lunch last week. The colors were so cheerful!

Bear!!!

Meet Samuel Bear Harrison, Adam's sister's new baby boy. Allison and her husband, Simon, live in England, and Adam's parents arrived just after he was born. Perfect timing! He sure is a cutie pie!

Photo Collage by Adam

I couldn't resist buying him a little outfit embroidered with bears, a long-sleeved onesie, a hat, bib and adorable little socks. I forgot to take a photo of it, but I did take a photo of the package with the card I made.

I cut the card with my Silhouette using cute gingham paper by Memory Box. Then I stamped the little bear from Papertrey Ink's Baby Button Bits on brown gingham paper and added a button from my stash tied with some twine by Martha Stewart.

 

JustRite Friday Challenge

It's been awhile since I've participated in a challenge, but when I saw the JustRite challenge for a thank you card, I knew just which JustRite stamps to pull out. "Autumn Blessings" has been a long time favorite so it was fun to pull it out again.

After coloring the image with Copic markers and adding a bit of glitter with Copic glitter pens to the vines, I cut the image with an oval Nestability. I stamped the border separately, and cut it with two oval Nestabilities at the same time to create a frame I could pop up with dimensional tape. I colored the acorns with Copic glitter pens as well. Then I cut a strip of burlap and frayed each edge and wrapped it around two pieces of patterned paper from Lost and Found "Sunshine." (My Minds Eye) I've nearly used all the papers in this pad; it's been a real favorite this fall. I layered it all on a textured American Craft cardstock base. I know just who's getting this card!