Gratitude
This has been printed and added to my Gratitude Journal for this week.
I took the photo this week in Highland Park, and it will show up again tomorrow as one of my favorite photos of the week.
Weekly Gratitude
In 2008, I made this gratitude journal:
There were 52 pages, some large, some little journaling spots, some envelopes so that I could record my blessings week by week. I made it to March, fell behind, and gave up. It's been sitting on my shelf just above my MacBook ever since. I pull it down occasionally and think I ought to start it up again. Finally the inspiration has come through a new site Weekly Gratitude.
Thanks to Karen Grunberg (once again) there are photo overlays, and today there were journaling templates by Kim Hurst available. My intention is to post a gratitude page each Saturday. In fact, I made this page last Saturday, but just today got around to taking the photo. I also included a card for 2010 as a transition from the 2008 entries.
I used one of Karen's photo/journaling templates for this page. I'm not thinking that every week will have a photo, but I'm quite sure I'll add some of the new templates to the existing journal.
Some Excitement
Two posts in a day, but this is a special announcement. About a month ago, I submitted a some projects for the Design Team at the Scrap-Mart blog. The call was in an email, and I got to the blog at the last minute for the submission. I am so excited to have been asked to join the 2010 Design Team. The announcement is up on the blog, so now I can "spill the beans!" In addition to a new design team, they have a beautiful new blog.
The first time I encountered Scrap Mart was at the CKC Convention in Buffalo three years ago. They sell Nestabilities, Spellbinders, Copic markers (which I knew nothing about at the time), Just Rite stamps, Unity stamps, the new LetterPress, Sizzix, Quickutz, and more. At the time, they also carried all of the Scenic Route (now out of business) line which was my very favorite. I spent most of my convention "fund" at their booth! Their customer service is great, and I must say, working with them over the past two weeks has truly been a pleasure. Check them out!
CPS 134
Here's my card for this week's sketch at CPS:
The patterned paper is an old one from Carolee Creations that I found in my Christmas scraps. The glitter paper was also from my stash, and I have no idea where it came from. Circle dies by Nestabilities, punches by Marvy and silver twine from Paper Source.
Sketchfest Monday plus 2
Here's today's sketch from Caardvarks:
I started by choosing a couple of papers from Studio Calico's Cotillion kit. I hand cut the scallop from the Anna Griffin paper and chose a piece of Papertrey Enchanted Evening to set it off. Then while hunting through my stash for something entirely different, I came upon this old, old sticker set that had just the right colors, so here it is, a totally unexpected result:
I also made a card for the 2 Sketches 4 You site, but didn't finish it in time to post it on their blog. It's a thank you note for friends who invited us to spend some time in their exquisite gardens.
All Papertrey except for the gingham ribbon from my stash. I love the Everyday Button Bits stamps. I almost didn't order them, but am surely glad I did.
Here is another card from that set for a young man's upcoming birthday:
Papertrey cardstock and stamps; patterned paper Cosmos Cricket Boyfriend papers.
Sketchfest Sunday
CaardVarks is having a weeklong Sketch Fest. I won't be able to complete all the challenges since we're off to the Adirondacks on Friday, but hope to do the earlier ones this week. Here is one for Sunday:
And my card:
Cardstock: PTI Dark Chocolate, Pure Poppy; all other: Basic Grey Ambrosia; gem from stash.
Three for Moxie Fab
The most recent Moxie Fab challenge was to create a paper crafted project that incorporated an image of a household object. It inspired me to pull out some favorite stamps that I've had for a very long time.
Stamps: JudiKins, Stamp Oasis, Papertrey Ink; Patterned papers: Papertrey Black & White Basics & Bitty Boxes, Cosmos Cricket Boyfriend.
These typwriter key stickers (unknown) seemed like the perfect choice for the inside message. (There's a black border around all of the red paper, though it doesn't show up here.)
And finally:
Stamps: Denami Designs, Papertrey Ink; ribbon and button from stash; Cuttlebug embossing folder.
Good-bye to Summer
Labor Day always seems to signal the unofficial end of summer. Even though neither of us returns to work this year, it still had that "end of summer" feel to it. We had great weather and took good advantage of it. Saturday we went to a picnic at Pete and Arlene's. Arlene and Shaun had just celebrated their birthdays so sparklers were in order.
I love Pete and Arlene's fire pit on their deck. If we had a bit more room on our patio, I'd seriously consider buying one.
On Sunday, Tracy and I drove to Chimney Bluffs on Lake Ontario. Neither of us had ever been there before. The trail goes along the rocky shoreline, then heads up to the top of the cliffs so you are looking down on the lake.
There were lots of folks swimming. It was a really nice day, but the water in the lake is still pretty cold.
After our hike, Matt met us at The Bayside Pub for dinner. We'd never been there before and I'd definitely go back. It's a very casual place, but the setting and the food are both great.
I love the reflection in his glasses.
It was a great way to say "good-bye" to summer.
Moxie Fab Stamping Challenge
Once I use a Christmas stamp for my holiday cards, I often sell it or give it away. For some reason I held on to this Magenta stamp which I still love after many years. Here's a card for the Moxie Fab Challenge:
I stamped the image on Kraft cardstock and added some color with my Prisma colored pencils. Cardstock is from Papertrey: Scarlet Jewel and Deep Avacado. The ribbon is from my stash, and the message stamp is Savvy stamps. Both layers are lined with a Krylon gold leafing pen.
CPS 132 and Moxie Fab
Another two challenge card: a very untraditional Christmas card for the Moxie Fab stamping challenge based on this week's CPS Sketch. There's a fair amount of bling on this card that doesn't show up as well in a photograph as in real life.
Stamps: Hero Arts and savvy stamps; cardstock: Papertrey, silver twine: Paper Source, patterned paper: KI Memories, jewels: unknown from stash.
Cards for Kate
Jennifer McGuire is hosting a Cards for Kate drive to help cheer a family whose little girl has been diagnosed with brain cancer. I'd participate no matter what, but my mom died from a brain tumor over 40 years ago, so this has special meaning to me. I'm sending cards for each member of the family but here are two that I've never posted. I haven't used either of these stamps in so long. I don't have a reason to create cards for kids very often, but I held on to some of my favorites when I sold off a lot of stamps a few years ago.
Patterned paper: Crate Paper and Papertrey, Cardstock and button: Papertrey, ribbon: Paper Source, stamp: Mostly Animals, Nestabilities and Copic markers.
Stamp: Uptown Stamps, cardstock and button: Papertrey, ribbon: Impress Stamps, Cuttlebug embossing folder, Copic markers and glitter pen, and Stickles.
CPS 131
I have a new 6X6 paper pad of the Cosmos Cricket Boyfriend papers that I was dying to try. Here's my take on this week's sketch at CPS.
Cosmos Cricket pp; cardstock, twine, button, message stamp all Papertrey Ink; October Afternoon journaling spot, EK Success border punch, and Creek Bank twill.
End of Summer
The weather is definitely changing–cool nights but warm, sunny days. For many of my friends the end of summer comes this weekend since school begins on Tuesday for them. A group of us had lunch today and Tracy took this photo of us on our patio. Three of us are now retired, and six head back to school next week. It's hard to get us all together, but when we do, we have a great time.
Challenges
I'm glad to have the time to play along with some challenges this week. I love the colors Dawn chose for her Raspberry Suite Challenge.
