random reflections

Pairs: Week 4-Opposites

We finally got a sunny day over 20° today, so I headed off to the car wash. Not surprisingly, so did a lot of other people. I have a tag that allows me to "whisk" through the special line. Today----not. so. much. The key tag line actually took longer than either other line, primarily because one person could not figure out how to merge into the other lines.

Before I reached the car wash, I thought the before and after photos might make a good pair, so I pulled over in a parking lot and took a photo of my dirty car. Afterwards, I took another one. Good thing I did it quickly because by the time I drove from the car wash to the grocery store, the car was already getting dirty again. At least the salt has been washed off!

These are hardly artistic photos, so I'll leave you with this one that I took as the car went through the car wash.

I'm linking my pairs up on Helena's blog with others you may enjoy. I love seeing the variety of pairs that pop up each week.

January Papertrey Ink Blog Hop

The inspiration for today's Papertrey Ink Blog Hop is hearts. That's a theme that's hard to resist this time of year.

In my ongoing attempt to use products I've never used or haven't used in a long time, I whipped out the "One Liner" Love die. I've had this for a couple years, and I'm quite sure I've never used it. (There are two other words in the set, so it's not quite as bad as it seems.) Other brand new products include the sparkly tag which I picked up at 50% off at Paper Source after Christmas, and the gorgeous gold dot vellum by Teresa Collins in her 6X6 pad, "Studio Gold." I layered the vellum on a piece of Select White cardstock.

The red heart is the inside heart that pops out when you die cut one of the Stitched Heart dies (PTI), and the gold arrow is a die from Savvy. And the cardstock is my favorite, Pure Poppy.

This card also fits two other challenges: Less is More which is a sketch challenge this week.

And the Simon Says Wednesday Challenge: Have a Heart.

We're off to the movies to see "The Theory of Everything." I think it's close to the end of its run here. There are always multiple movies I want to see this time of year.

Pairs: Week 3

I'm linking up with Helena's meme for 2015:  Pairs. As soon as the New Year arrives, a portion of my grocery money goes to bright flowers to grace our kitchen table. It makes the long, cold winter a bit more cheerful. 

So, today, I have a pair of primroses:

I found this cute galvanized planter a few years ago, and it has turned out to be a great purchase. It's just the right size for the inexpensive plants at the grocery store and perfect on our small kitchen table.

You can check out other pairs right here.

Variations on a Theme

I need four birthday cards for guys by the end of the month, and decided to do the same design, with different papers and dies for all four. All four qualify for the Simon Says Wednesday Challenge: It's a Guy Thing," as well as for the CAS-ology Challenge: NBUS. That may seem a bit odd, but it stands for "Never Been Used Schtuff." All the patterned papers on these cards are from new 6X6 paper pads that I picked up while traveling, and I've never used the "Sending" die or stamp from Simon Says. 

There have been lots of cards in blogland recently with the design I used. I pinned this one by Laurie last month. On two of the cards I popped the panels out with foam tape.

Cardstock: Select White and Pure Poppy (PTI), patterned paper: "Stitched" Amy Tangerine for American Craft; die & stamp: "Happy" Simon Says

 

Cardstock: Select White, True Black (PTI); patterned paper: Kelly Purkey "Second City" for Basic Grey; die: "Wet Paint" (PTI); stamp: "Happy" Simon Says

On these two cards, I decided not to pop the panels. I like both ways, but I think the foam adds an extra element of interest.

Cardstock: Staples, Smoky Shadow (PTI), patterned paper: "Stitched" Amy Tangerine for American Craft, die & stamp: "Sending and Wishing" Simon Says

Cardstock: Rustic Cream & Kraft (PTI), patterned paper: MME Necessities: Wood,  
die: "Wet Paint" (PTI), stamp: "Happy" Simon Says

Cards for guys almost always take me a lot more time than usual, but these went together fairly quickly. They're all different, but I think it's a great design for a masculine card.

Pairs: Week 2

I'm on Day 12 of an upper respiratory infection. Enough already! It really put a damper on our trip to Florida, but it was at least more pleasant when the temperatures were in the 70's instead of the single digits!

My Pairs for Helena's meme this week:  On the Ground and In the Air.

Although it takes nearly the whole day to fly home given the layover in Atlanta, it was a smooth flight---no delays which is always wonderful. It's good to be home, but taking some time to get myself organized for action. I'm anxious to get going on some big reorganization and purging activities as well as some online class assignments. Due to my cold, I had to cancel two events tomorrow so I have a whole weekend with no commitments. Hopefully, it will be productive.

One Photo & Twenty Words

I'm joining in with Abi's meme to share one of my favorite moments from our recent trip to Chicago.

Sarah has been called as Acting Associate Pastor at the Winnetka Congregational Church. Proud parents on her first official Sunday.

Since Christmas and Pairs #1

Tracy and I left Rochester on December 27th to drive to Chicago where we celebrated Christmas with Sarah, Adam, and Caleb, celebrated Caleb's third birthday, and attended the service at the Winnetka Congregational Church for Sarah's first Sunday as Acting Associate Pastor. It was a wonderful few days, and we left just before the Arctic cold swept in. After 22 hours at home, we switched our van for Tracy's mother's van and headed to Florida. We spent three days driving down, arriving late afternoon yesterday for a total of about 2,300 miles driven since Christmas. The Arctic chill followed us all the way down. It was only 1° in Atlanta, GA. But today in Fort Myers Beach, it's in the 70's. I'm thrilled to be out of the car and in warm weather for a few days. This morning we walked down the beach and saw three dolphins swimming just off shore.

I'm looking forward to another year of photo challenges on Helena's blog. This year, it's Pairs, and I suppose you could say my first pair is another Zoom In, Zoom Out, but I think it's more a Part: Whole pairing. Just south of Tallahassee, FL is St. Mark's National Wildlife Refuge. We got there just as the Visitor's Center was about to close, but a wonderful woman gave us a brief oral history before we drove out to the lighthouse.

 

Once we're home again, I'll have some photos and stories to share about our travels, and an update on my One Little Word for 2015. I've been enjoying reading your blogs about your intentions and OLWs as we've traveled along.

A Shaker Star for Marc

When my nephew saw the shaker card I made for my mother-in-law this summer, he announced that that was the kind of card he wanted for his birthday.

I found the perfect patterned paper in an American Craft paper pad, "Hip, Hip, Hooray." I die cut two stars with Papertrey's "Seeing Stars" dies to create the window and frame for the shaker. I used Jennifer McGuire's tip to use fun foam as the backing for the shaker portion. Here's a link to her video; what a difference it made---so much easier, and nicer looking, too.

I think he'll like it! Happy Birthday, Marc!