random reflections

Happy Anniversary

Today is our 44th anniversary, and my card says it all.

Wonderful husband, best friend, fabulous traveling companion, amazing dad and grandfather--Tracy is the best! 

As soon as I saw this amazing "Mountain Majesty" cover plate released this month at Papertrey Ink, and the gorgeous card Nicole Heady created, I knew this had to be my anniversary card for Tracy. He loves the mountains, and has hiked to the top of most of the 49 High Peaks in the Adirondacks. My card is a shameless copy of Nicole's with just one change, but it was too perfect to mess with, so I hope she takes it for what it is---a tribute to her wonderful design skills. Also my thanks to a friend, who loaned me both stamp sets. 

The sentiment is from "Quoted: The Most." There are three interchangeable sentiments that can be used. Instead of a heart Nicole used as an embellishment, I embossed the interchangeable sentiment on a red banner which I popped up with dimensional tape. I did add the glitter to the mountains, although it was rarely snowing when Tracy was hiking. 

We're off to Toronto tomorrow to celebrate. It's been years since we've been there. We have tickets to the Georgia O'Keeffe exhibit at the Royal Ontario Museum. The exhibit closes on Sunday so we're getting there at the last moment. (In fact, there's no more mention of that exhibit on the website. I'd be nervous, but we got a lovely email yesterday reminding us we have tickets for the exhibit tomorrow.) We have dinner reservations at Eastside Social, and will spend the night before heading off to the McMichael Museum on Sunday morning before we head home. We've never been there, and I'm looking forward to exploring the exhibits as well as the grounds.

CASology Balloons and Color Throw Down

It's CASology's fifth birthday, and they're having a party! You can find the blog hop right here. The word for the week is "balloon."

It was the perfect opportunity to get a birthday card ready for an upcoming birthday, and to use a combination of old, but loved, and brand new products. The "old, but loved" is Papertrey's Balloon Bash set. This set is a fave for it's birthday sentiments, but this time I pulled out the three balloons. The Balloon String dies (PTI) are also a favorite. The new product is Papertrey's "Infinity Frames," which was just released this month. When I purchased the die, I had lots of ideas, but ended up using them in a totally unexpected way to create a white on white background for the pretty balloons.

The sentiment from "Initial Sentiments: Birthday" (PTI) was embossed in white on black, cut out by hand, and popped up with dimensional tape. I chose the colors of the balloons from this week's Color Throw Down Challenge. Although I've been aware of the challenge for awhile, this is the first time I've played along.

I used Raspberry Fizz, Bright Buttercup, and New Leaf inks to stamp the balloons before die cutting them. They seem to be a perfect match!

Another morning of steady rain here. It was a good day to stay inside and craft, so I'll have more to share very soon.

Papertrey July Blog Hop Challenge

I've been so busy recently, that I didn't even realize it was the 25th of July until I got on the computer this morning. Luckily, I had time before I set off on errands and to the refugee center to volunteer, to make a card since I loved the inspiration post. Now that I'm finally home, I can get it linked up to the July Papertrey Blog Hop Challenge. 

Soft blues and white, clean and simple design. I really like the lovely leaves, so started with the leaf diecut from Songbirds in two colors: Aqua Mist and Ocean Tides. I wasn't sure where I wanted to go with them so I cut quite a few. Once I laid two of them on a white card, I knew I wanted to try the new Mix and Mat: Postal as a background. I must say I'm a fan of the new Mix and Mat die cut sets.

Just two of the leaf clusters was all I needed. I backed the open part of the Mix and Mat die with a soft blue vellum that's been in my stash forever. The sentiment is a die from Still Life Summer Mini-Market kit. I sponged some ink on the bottom of it to create an ombre effect to set it off. 

Since this card is totally die cuts, no stamping at all, I'm also entering it into the current Less is More Challenge: Anything But Stamping.

 

 

 

Mini-Market Kit: Herb Garden

When I need a card in a hurry, I often turn to the Papertrey Ink Mini-Market kits. They're typically a great value, including patterned papers, stencils, die cuts, and stamps. Thanks to a lovely gift certificate Sarah gave me for my birthday, I didn't hesitate to order the latest kit released in June. And it came just in time, to create two needed thank you cards.

This kit was a perfect match for a much older set, "Garden Variety," which I've always loved. I stamped and die cut the seed packet from "Garden Variety," and added two die cuts from the "Herb Garden" kit. Each of the herbs included in the set comes with a sentiment showcasing the herb's meaning. Finally, I stamped "Parsley" and adhered it to a piece of patterned paper from Echo Park cut with a stitched rectangle die and adhered to a white card base. On the first card I stamped the word with New Leaf ink, but decided True Black really looked better as it balanced the black of the die cut at the bottom of the seed packet.

I used some dimensional tape to add the parsley die cut to the seed packet. These cards went off to two college friends. We celebrated birthdays late this year.

There hasn't been a lot of time to create since we returned from vacation. I made these just before we left, and have another post from that session to put up soon. This week looks more promising, but you just never know what's going to pop up on the calendar.

Take Three Thursday

I'm joining in with Mary-Lou at Patio Postcards for Take Three Thursday. The three photos were all taken today, which started very early. A friend and I spent the night at her family's cottage on Owasco Lake. Our alarms went off at 4:45 and we arrived at the famed McKenzie Child Barn Sale at 6:00. There was already a long line, but it actually moved along pretty quickly, and we were admitted to the sale around 7:15. It was a beautiful morning, and McKenzie Child is located in a lovely spot with gorgeous landscaping. 

This is just a fraction of the line, and when we left the sale around 9:15, the line had only grown longer. To get a birds-eye view, you can see a video shot by a television station in Syracuse right here. (Let me add, that if you watch the video, not everyone at the sale had a list of over 100 items to buy, nor were we all buying items for over $100.) Everything, however, is 50% off, and I did add some bowls and vases to my Courtly Check collection, as well as picking up some gifts. 

The ladies ahead of us in line clearly expected to do some serious shopping. The sale is incredibly well-organized. All these paper bags were handed out by staff as we waited in line. When you leave, there is a line of staff there to help you carry your purchases to your car. (We, however, did not need assistance.)

They also come along with this cute frame, and offer to take your photo. Couldn't pass up the opportunity for a souvenir of my first McKenzie Child Barn sale.

 

Five in Five at The Heritage Gardens

Although I don't often check my email on my phone, as we approached Cape Cod last week, I decided to see if there was anything of interest, and indeed, there was. Anne from Artful Journey had sent me an email suggesting we stop at The Heritage Gardens in Sandwich, Massachusetts if we had time. Since we had a couple of hours to kill before we needed to line up for the ferry to Nantucket, we decided to explore. It was a fabulous suggestion. The gardens are beautiful and it's just the beginning of hydrangea season there. I'm a huge fan of hydrangeas, and need to take some photos of the beautiful hydrangea tree Matt planted in our front yard last fall as well as the more traditional ones that now grace the new landscaping. Even my huge hydrangea that has failed to bloom for three years is loaded with blossoms this year.

Here's an introductory photo from The Heritage Gardens, followed by five photos of the gorgeous hydrangeas. I have more photos from the garden that I'll share in later posts.

In addition to the beautiful gardens, they also have a lovely outdoor cafe where we had an excellent lunch, an art gallery, a carousel, and an antique car museum. Plenty to explore on another trip. I also found two more items for the Summer Scavenger Hunt. I can't think of a better way to have spent our time.

I'm linking this post to Sandi's Five in Five. Take five photos in five minutes; you have until the 25th of the month to link them up to Sandi's post, and you can check in there for more inspiration.

Happy Birthday, Ellie!

While we were away my mother-in-law celebrated her birthday, and she turned a young 88! We actually celebrated her birthday last month, when the whole family was at Honeoye Lake. Sarah and her family arrived from Chicago in time for the family portrait.

Ellie is smack in the middle of this great family portrait with family from Texas, Arizona, Illinois, and Louisiana as well as many of us who live in New York, and one of Jill's best friends from Australia. 

Nothing makes her happier than time together with her family. She had a beautiful birthday cake, and a wonderful flower candle that was supposed to drop its petals when you lit it. Instead it burned like a torch! We think it was the wind coming in the windows. Fortunately, there was no damage to the cake.

I didn't give her a handmade card at the lake. We had a group card and group gift so I waited until her birthday in Vermont to give it to her. 

Her card (made on the same day as Jasmine's wedding card) is a close CASE. I couldn't find a patterned paper I like, so I decided to emboss the sentiment from Reverse Confetti's "Simply Sentiments" in the same gold as the floral arrangement from Simon Says' "Floral Bliss." Once again a narrow strip of metallic paper separate the focal point from the sentiment. Like the wedding card, it's pretty simple, but the black and gold make it festive.

We arrived home on Tuesday night to three days of rain. It finally stopped long enough yesterday for the lawn to dry out to and be mowed. It was beginning to look like a jungle! There's lots going on, as is typical after being away for over a week. We're off again today with a good friend to go to the Ithaca farm market and visit a few wineries. I managed to squeeze in some time last night to make a card for a friend's surprise birthday party coming up this weekend, too. I'll be back with that once I get it photographed. Lots of photos from the trip to upload and edit, too. 

Happy Birthday, Madelyn!

Yesterday was  Maddy's first birthday, and we're lucky to be celebrating with her on Nantucket. Spending time with Matt, Betsy, Skylar, Ella, and Maddy is simply wonderful. Maddy was ready to celebrate and so were her sisters. Her tee shirt reads "The Party Has Arrived."

(photo courtesy of Pam Adams)

Recently, I commented that often my initial vision for a card doesn't translate into the final product. But this is another one that did. Once I found the "right" patterned paper in my stash, the card came together quickly.

The only stumbling block was finding the right sized number 1, but thanks to Sarah, the problem was quickly solved. I've owned a Silhouette SD (no longer manufactured) for many years. The software has been upgraded so many times, and the cutting blade reconfigured so that I always felt overwhelmed at the prospect of using it. Sarah has the newest model, and while she was here, she installed the new software, inserted the new cutting blade, and gave me enough instruction that I didn't even have to watch a video to get the number cut out.

I found the patterned paper in a Pink Paislee pad appropriately titled, "Birthday Bash," die cut it with my fave stitched rectangle die, and then die cut the heart from the middle with a die from My Favorite Things. The little bear and present were stamped, colored, and fussy cut and popped up next to the heart. 

I added some clear glitter to the number 1 and the bow on the package with Spectrum Noir's Clear Sparkle pen, but it doesn't show up in either photograph. 

Today we went on a Critter Cruise with the little girls. Last year, we babysat Maddy while Skylar and Ella went. This year w all went, and we had a great time. They "caught" crabs, giant snails, a lobster, and many fish. Tons of fun, and I'll have photos later.

It's a Celebration!

Greetings from the Common Grounds in Vermont on an absolutely gorgeous Fourth of July! Our niece was married here yesterday afternoon in a lovely ceremony. It was a fabulous wedding. It began on Sunday afternoon and extends through most of today. I'd call it a community supported wedding, where everyone who wanted to, pitched in to help. I was on the photography team, and helped set up and decorate the dining hall for dinner after the ceremony. Jasmine and Hollis have the most amazing group of friends. Twenty-four of them were the Core Team, and worked so hard and joyfully to make sure the whole event was well-coordinated and stress-free for everyone. The weather was spectacular and you can see from the photo that the setting was gorgeous. I'll have more to share later, but here's one photo from the ceremony.

Here's the card I created for their wedding.

I began by embossing this beautiful floral arrangement from the Simon Says June card kit, "Blissful" onto a Vintage Cream card. I added a piece of black and gold metallic paper from MME's "Fancy That" paper pad to the bottom of the card with a narrow strip of gold metallic paper to define the parts, and stamped one of the sentiments from Papertrey Ink's "Keep It Simple: Wedding." Simple, but elegant.

We're off on the next leg of our summer journey. We're spending the morning with family and then heading out to Portsmouth, New Hampshire for two nights. We've never been there, and I'm looking forward to exploring.

For those of you celebrating:  Happy Fourth of July! I hope you've had a wonderful long weekend.

 

One Card: Three Challenges

I'm trying to get all the cards I need for the month of July completed, and I started with three challenges for an anniversary card for my niece and her husband. The first is Addicted to CAS: White on White,

and the second is The Card Concept with this beautiful photo inspiration.

And third, the Time Out Challenge for Celebrations.

When I saw the challenges, I immediately had an idea for using another new Papertrey Ink product:  the "Mix and Mat-Pretty Brackets" dies. I used two of the dies on this card, taping them together before running them through the die cutting machine on the front of the card. 

I layered another piece of linen cardstock behind the open die cut but only attached to the edges of the card so there's a bit of dimension. I added a small red heart since the inside sentiment is "Happy Anniversary." Here's a closer look:

It's a great match for The Card Concept and Celebrations at Time Out, and looking at the Design Team's submission at Addicted to CAS, it appears one little pop of color also works for that challenge. The Card Concept asks you to choose a style, and although there is a bit of layering here, I'd label this one "Clean and Simple." I love when a card comes out exactly as you envisioned it. It doesn't happen often enough. I'll be relying on this design for another wedding in September.