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Ornaments and Decorations

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Our house has been decorated for some time, but I didn't want to post any photos until my ornaments from Missus Wookie arrived. I actually received them over a week ago, but haven't had a chance to take good photos. Miriam's lovely ornament swap was such fun. Then, as luck would have it, another package from across the pond arrived this week from Miriam herself with another delightful ornament for the tree. But, nonethess, the linky to the ornament swap is now expired! With the wedding and travel being behind is to be expected.

Better late than never, here are the gorgeous beeswax ornaments made by Missus Wookie.

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And because the gorgeous detail doesn't show well in the tree photos, here's a closer look.

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They are stunning, and we've never had anything like them. I am equally fond of this darling button tree sent by Miriam.

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They'll be treasured each year as they will remind me, once again, how blessed I am to be a part of such a lovely blogging community.

While I'm here I thought I'd share a few of the new Christmas decorations around here. The biggest one is our tree. For the first time ever, we purchased an artificial tree. This was not an easy decision, but since we'll be leaving the day after Christmas to visit Sarah, and then driving Tracy's mother's van to Florida having a real tree just seems silly. This way I don't have to put everything away before I leave, which seems like an overwhelming task. I'm actually quite fond of the tree, though Sarah was quite disappointed in us!

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When we visited the Biltmore Estate in October I picked up another new ornament for our tree. Our tree is filled with ornaments we've picked up on vacations over the years. It's always fun to unpack them each year, and remember all the great places we've visitied.

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I also bought this gorgeous snow globe at the Biltmore. It's also a music box that plays "Jingle Bells." Both Skylar and Caleb are entranced by it.

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Thanks to a photo on Pinterest, I decided to put out my old typewriter in our front hall. Of all our decorations this year, this one generates the most comments and stories.

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My to-do list is winding down. I still have some packages to wrap, and one more cookie recipe to try, but we're in good shape for Christmas Day when we're expecting 25 for dinner. How's it going at your house?

 

 

Snowy Thanks

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We woke up to 3° this morning, and another inch or two of snow. Snow must be on the mind of the challenge creators this week.
 
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I needed a thank you card, and when I finished it I do believe it qualifies for six separate challenges:
 
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I started with my favorite sketch challenge: CAS(E) this Sketch.
 
ATCAS - code word snowflakes
 
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I love CAS-UAL Fridays challenge site, and here's the snowy reference.
 
And then there are the two Simon Says Challenges. Wednesday's is "Let It Snow," and Monday's is "Use a Stamp."
 
I pulled out my shimmer card stock for this one: both blue and white, so the colors and snowflake also match the inspiration piece for the Case Study challenge.
 
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Finally, here's the card.
 
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In the detail photo at the top of the post, you can see the beautiful textured silver paper I picked up yesterday at Michael's. I wish I'd bought more than one sheet. I stamped the snowflakes from Wplus9's Folk Art Flurries and embossed them with Winter Wonderand embossing powder. The die cut "Thanks" is from Simon Says.
 
Hope it's a bit warmer where you are. I'm off to have a cup of soup, and get busy baking cookies!

Whirlwind

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It’s been twelve days since I’ve had time to write a blog post, but I think you’ll understand why when you see what’s been going on around here. I flew off to Chicago on December 5th to spend a weekend with Sarah, Adam, and Caleb. 

While I was there Tracy sent a Polar Express G-gauge model railroad train to Caleb to go around his Christmas tree. Matt was never much interested in trains, but Caleb loves them. Here’s a photo of Caleb “talking” to Grandpa on Face Time after he’s seen the train first thing in the morning.

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He was smitten from the first go-around.

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Caleb got a new haircut, we made cookies, read books, went to church and an Advent luncheon, and most important, went to visit Santa Claus.

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My flight on Monday was cancelled, so I won an extra day in Chicago, but had to fly into Buffalo on Tuesday. Tracy didn’t mind driving to pick me up, and we got home just as another snow storm hit the area. I had just two days to get ready for the next big event:  Matt and Betsy’s wedding! 

Friday afternoon, Sarah, Adam, and Caleb arrived here so Adam could officiate at the wedding. I hosted the non-rehearsal dinner for both families on Friday night. I was too busy to take photos, but here’s a shot of the cheesecake on the table before I put it in the fridge. 

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Matt and Betsy decided to get married about six weeks ago, and didn’t want to wait until after the holidays. They planned the perfect immediate family-only wedding at the lovely Strathallan Hotel. The wedding took place on the ninth floor overlooking the city of Rochester. I’m sure the photographer will have better photos, but I couldn’t resist taking my camera along.

It was Adam’s first wedding ceremony, and his words on love and marriage were thoughtful and so appropriate.

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Because it was just family, Caleb and Skylar were able to sit quietly and color during the ceremony.

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Here are some of my faves:

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Matt with his grandmother

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Sarah and Caleb

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Matt and his dad

Following the ceremony, we all sat down to a lovely and delicious brunch. I don’t have any photos of the meal, but the centerpieces were beautiful.

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Sarah, Adam, and Caleb’s flight home was cancelled, rescheduled, and cancelled again. Ah, the joys of winter travel. They finally got off around noon yesterday, but it gave us another morning together, and Caleb time to play with some new toys.

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It’s just a little over a week until Christmas Day! Still on the list to do: wrap gifts, bake cookies, and get ready for the family dinner on Christmas Day. My calendar is filled with social events this week:  bridge, lunch and breakfast out with friends, a committee meeting followed by dinner, and dinner here with good friends on both Tuesday and Saturday nights. But that's the stuff that's most important—being with friends and family. The Christmas Journal (I'm keeping up with the journaling) and the blog can wait until there are a few free moments. 

Project Life: October

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My goal is to complete the month's pages for Project Life by the end of the following month, and I managed to get these done before the calendar turned to December. But not edited nor posted. After all these years, you'd think I'd know that all the holiday preparation takes longer than you anticipate. I'm off to visit Sarah, Adam, and Caleb tomorrow evening for a long weekend, and can't wait to put my arms around all of them. Being away, however, means the to-do list for the holidays is a bit longer than usual right now. Today I have nothing on the calendar except a needed trip to the gym, so I'm finally able to post these pages, and perhaps get a start on November's pages. I'm planning to do my Christmas Journal in my Project Life album this year, and I'm already working on that bit by bit.

I tried a new technique to photograph these pages, lining up the photos and cards on top of the page protectors. It definitely takes care of the glare, but I see now that not everything was lined up as perfectly as I would have liked. 

October was a full month with trips to Niagara-on-the-Lake with our friends, Karen and Mike as well as the extended road trip to Florida for Rachel and Juan's wedding. 

It was truly a blessing this year to have a weekend with Karen and Mike. Although quite a bit thinner, Mike continues to do exceptionally well. There are a few side effects left from the multiple surgeries and attachments to life-saving machinery, but he is doing great. I used a Katie Pertiet digital quote on the photo of Karen and Mike, stained a Studio Calico wood veneer piece, and added some word stickers to some of the cards and photos.

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On our way to Florida we spent one night in Savannah, GA, visited Tybee Island (not much there to recommend other than the beach and a lovely lighthouse), and had dinner at a fabulous restaurant on the saltwater flats. Our destination was the Boca Raton Resort where Rachel and Juan had arranged a wonderful package for the wedding guests. I put one of my favorite Instagram photos on a 4X6 template, added a banner with a tiny staple, and some more wood veneer. Taking a cue from Melissa who does such a great job of incorporating memorabilia into her layouts, I made a pocket card to hold business cards from some of the restaurants we ate in while traveling.

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I cut apart a map we picked up to make the title card for this page, and used some A Muse pearls to mark the places we visited in Florida.

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The wedding, of course, was the highlight of the trip. I only had my iPhone with me for the reception, but captured a good photo of the bride and groom, the maid of honor (Rachel's sister, Sarah), and our friend, Lindsey and her family. Lindsey is a Presbyterian minister and a church friend of both Rachel and Sarah. She delivered a wonderful homily at the wedding.  I kept the elegant door key from the resort and included a few photos from it as well. Instead of doing a journaling card, I cut the cover from the wedding program, and tied a thin silver thread around it. (The photos, fortunately, are much sharper IRL than they appear here.)

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On Monday after the wedding, we spent the morning taking an architectural tour of the Art Deco buildings in Miami Beach. I combined the journaling with a photo of the Versace mansion, the only stop on the tour that was not in Art Deco style. We were surprised to hear that it is the third most photographed home in the United States, probably because Versace was gunned down on the steps of his mansion by an assassin.

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Next stop, Key West. It was HOT and humid, but way more fun than we expected since Fantasy Fest was beginning. 

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On our way to visit friends in Charlotte, we drove across the Everglades to the west coast of Florida. We stopped for a ranger's walking tour, and at the smallest post office in the United States. We didn't have time for an air boat ride in the Everglades, but hope to cross that off our list in January when we're visiting with Tracy's mom. I loved the official Everglades sticker, and knew it would make a good title card for this page.

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Recently, I watched part of a three day live video conference with Becky Higgins, and learned about the smaller Project Life page protectors. They were easy to pick up at Michael's with the weekly coupon, and proved to be perfect for the last two pages where I had fewer photos. Our friends in Charlotte proposed a trip to Asheville to visit the Biltmore Estate. I'd had an opportunity to do that many years ago, but passed since tickets are quite expensive. But I can tell you now, it's worth the money. We spent the whole day there, and didn't see all we'd like to have seen. Sadly, no photographs are allowed inside the house. On both of the last pages I used a Cathy Zielske "Labeled Photo Sets" to add two photos in one 6X4 slot.

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Finally, I couldn't leave October without some Halloween photos of my grandchildren as well as two faves their parents sent me during October.

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November will surely be quicker to scrap as we've been home all month!

 

 

Storytelling Sunday: Pick Your Precious

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This is it. The last month of the year. The last "Pick Your Precious" story. Thank you, Sian, for hosting this year-long event that has prompted so many lovely, important stories. Here, in Sian's words, is the motivation for this meme:  Pick Your Precious is for short story tellers and for long. You can take the idea of simply a photo with a few words; or, if you are a can't-stop-yourself storyteller, you can expand as much as you like. The thing to keep in mind is that at the end of the year you'll have a permanent record of the little things you hold dear – and your family will know why you are holding onto them!

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As I read the heartfelt stories this year, it became apparent that no matter what the chosen object, it is the memories associated with it that are truly precious.

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When I think about what would matter most to me if I had to leave my home in a hurry with little in hand, I always think I’d try to grab some of my scrapbooks. 

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Although I started scrapping late in life, they are filled with family stories, old and new; trips far and near; friends; and birthdays and celebrations. As I looked through these scrapbooks, I found pages from vacations, pages about events the year the scrapbook was created, and pages from many years prior. The Kiawah album holds pages from vacations taken there over a 12 year period! I don't think we'd forget those vacations, but the photos and journaling certainly bring back much more vivid memories than I might have otherwise.

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It makes me realize, too, that there are still stories that need to be told. So, for my last "Pick Your Precious", I choose my scrapbooks, filled with love, laughter, and some tears as well. The stuff of life.

Circle Template: Alexa @ Trimming The Sails

52/50

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Time flies, and I have seven weeks of my 52/50 Project to share, but even more amazing—there are only five weeks left for the project! I need to find a new photography project for 2014. I'm signed up for the Still Life Photography course with Cheryl McCain but I know that will be difficult when we're traveling. I'd like a weekly project—one that requires me to do more than take a daily shot with my iPhone and something that challenges me to improve my photography. If you come across something, I'd love to hear about it. 

Week 41 found us in Niagara-on-the-Lake for a weekend of wine tasting and theater. Grapes were still heavy on the vine.

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The following week (#42) we were in Florida. I walked around the Boca Raton Resort and Club with my 50mm lens one morning and found lots to photograph. This gorgeous flower is one of my favorites.

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Most of the photos I took in Key West and the Everglades were with my 18-270mm zoom lens, but I finally remembered to get the 50mm lens on as we drove home through the Blue Ridge Mountains at the end of Week 43.

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Technically this isn't the best shot from Halloween (Week 44), but it's my favorite. Skylar was a fabulous bumblebee.

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Week 45 found me in our yard. Our relatively new maple tree was in the midst of changing colors.

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Tracy and I have been trying to get several good walks in every week while the weather is still good. (I think we may be at the end of that. We had 2-3 inches of snow this week, and the temperatures are hovering around freezing at their highest!) During Week 46 we walked through Highland Park, one of our favorite routes.

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Last week (Week 47) we were trying to find a new route and went to the Cobb Hill Reservoir. We walked through the woods first, but I didn't find much there to photograph. The leaves have fallen off the trees, and it was pretty drab. I liked the light on the reservoir through the bars, though, and decided to do a black and white conversion which I also like.

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With the upcoming holidays, a wedding, and a quick trip to Chicago in early December, finishing up this project should be pretty easy. Then I'll have to decide what to do with all the photos.

Inlaid Designs

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After making a card with an inlaid die cut here, I thought it would be fun to try it with a couple Christmas designs. These are too intricate to mass produce, but I'm quite happy with how they turned out.

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Both cards were then stamped and gold embossed with the sentiments. 

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I think both cards fit the Curtain Call Challenge this week which is a Christmas-inspired photograph.

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I'm off to see what I can purge from our basement. I'm quite sure 50% of what is stored there can go, but that will take more than just one or two days. For now I'm interested in just clearing out holiday decorations, gift wrap, and all the piles on my wrapping table. The holidays are in view, and I'd like to be a bit more organized.

Card Recipe:
Cardstock: Paper Source
Dies: "Wonderland Tree" & "Breezy Wreath" (Memory Box)
Stamps: "Stylish Sentiments: Holiday" (PTI)

CAS(e) This Sketch: Happy Birthday

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At the end of last week, I was trying to get all the November birthday and anniversary cards ready to mail. I realized I needed a birthday card for my nephew in Portland. I keep a document with all the current challenge images on it and found the new CAS(e) This Sketch inspiration. It seemed perfect for a "guy card." I stuck right to the sketch this time.

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Here's my take:

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Back to one of my favorite color schemes: black, red, and white—and the Simon Says woodgrain paper. The Spellbinder's "Label Two" die is a pretty close replica of the label on the sketch, and I used one of the tag images from Papertrey's "2012 Birthday Tags" set.

I embellished the inside of this one as well:

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Now all the November cards are in their envelopes waiting for the appropriate date to go in the mail. 

Card Recipe:
Cardstock: Woodgrain (Simon Says), True Black, Pure Poppy (PTI)
Washi Tape: My Mind's Eye
Dies: Labels Two (Spellbinders) and two circle punches
Stamps: 2012 Birthday Tags (PTI)
Stars: Jeni Bowlin

Thanks, Again!

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I needed two more thank you cards today, and had quite a bit of fun pulling them together. It was nice to have some uninterrupted creative time. The first one is for the amazing woman who planned all the meals for the youth retreat, purchased all the ingredients, cooked the Saturday night casseroles (delish!), and supervised the rest of us in the kitchen for the weekend. I cased this card design from a card I pinned here quite some time ago.

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She is indeed, all of these things! Here's a peek a the inside, which I kept small and tidy as there will be multiple signers!

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The next card is a thank you to Betsy's parents who had us to brunch yesterday. Paul made amazing scrambled eggs with cream cheese (I think) and brocolli. 

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I found the Spiral Notebook die laying on my desk and started with that. Once I found the striped paper, the rest came together quicking. I'm a huge fan of these word dies. I have several from Simon Says and a few from Papertrey Ink. They just make a card pop!

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I'm linking both these cards to the Simon Says Wednesday Challenge:  Thanksgiving/Thanks.

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Card Recipes:
Card #1:
Cardstock: Select White, Hawaiian Shores, Pure Poppy (PTI)
Stamps: You (Simon Says), Movers & Shakers & Around and About Sentiments (PTI)
Dies: Get to the Point (PTI), You (Simon Says)

Card #2:
Cardstock: Select White, Raspberry Fizz, Hawaiian Shores, Summer Sunrise (PTI)
Patterned Paper:  Snap! (Simple Stories)
Dies: Thanks (Simon Says), Spiral Notebook Page (PTI) 

Get Inky!

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Another post for two challenges, one of which closes in just a few hours. Both are Simon Says Challenges: the Monday Challenge: Got Ink? (which closes tonight) and the Wednesday Challenge: Thanksgiving/Thanks.

Earlier this year I enrolled in Claudine Helmuth's Big Picture Class, Technique Toolbox. I have hardly touched the content of this class, but it's not because I lack interest. The first technique was Photocopy Transfer, and she provided the handwriting copy to use on the tag. I used some paints, stencils, and Distress Inks as well. Definitely "inky!"

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I separated the tag, and inserted the Thanks die cut from Simon Says, added an arrow (PTI) and a heart (Simon Says). The ribbon was in my stash, and once again, I have no idea where it came from or how long I've had it. The three little black pearls are my favorites from A Muse.

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It's always good to have a thank-you card in your stash!

Card Recipe:
Cardstock: Parsley (Memory Box)
Manilla tag (Avery)
Distress Inks and Paint: Tim Holtz
Stencil: Balzaar Designs
Dies: Hearts & Thanks (Simon Says), Get to the Point (PTI)
Ribbon: from stash

 

CASology: Triangle & A Bit of Holiday Joy

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This week's challenge at CASology was just perfect for creating Christmas trees, and I'm still in need of some Christmas cards. Once again I finished this right under the wire!

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Although I could have easily cut a couple of triangles, I knew there were at least a couple in my collection of dies. These came from matching dies for Papertrey's "Hello, Sunshine," and "Tranquil Triology" stamps.

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I thought I had the right little star for the top of the tree among my gems, but nothing really worked. Then I remembered the gold mirror paper I've had for ages and used the Simon Says "Holiday Shapes" die to cut the star. That die gets a lot of use! The gold twine is as old as the mirror paper, and I wish I could remember where I bought it. Fortunately, the quantity on the spool is very generous and it's unlikely I'll run out anytime soon.

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I'd hoped to get the focus on the star; didn't work, but there's no time to retake the photo and get this up before the challenge closes.

The youth retreat was a huge success, and I'll have a few photos later in the week. The adults were exhausted by the end of the weekend, but I'm sure the teenagers were doing fine today.

Card Recipe:
Cardstock: Select White (PTI), Bazzill Textured green from scrap drawer, mirror gold (unknown)
Card: Paper Source
Patterned Paper: "Christmas Cottage" (Teresa Collins)
Twill: Scarlet Jewel (PTI)
Stamp: "2008 Holiday Tags" (PTI)
Dies: Holiday Shapes (Simon Says), Tranquil Triology, Tag Sale #6 & Hello Sunshine (PTI)

Happy Mail

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A while ago, I returned a set of tape runners by American Craft which had broken almost right away. They are my favorite tape runner, and I haven't had too many bad experiences with them. I usually order them in bulk from Amazon, and this particular batch was not good. I filed the email away, and forgot about it.

Then one day I was cleaning out that email folder and realized I'd never heard from them. I sent a second email, and got a very prompt and apologetic reply. Evidently the woman I had corresponded with the first time had left the company. Within just a few days, an amazing package arrived on my doorstep with a note saying they'd thrown in a few goodies for my patience.

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First, the replacements (more than I returned).

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When I opened the box, Tracy and I were both amazed by the amount of product they sent me. The best part is all of it is stuff I'll definitely be able to use. This might be the epitome of good customer service! 

I've made two cards with these goodies. The first one I posted here, for a Moxie Fab challenge, using the Washi tape and one of the metal rimmed tags.  Here's the second one.

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The patterned papers are from the paper pad they included and I attached the frame with one of the tiny clothespins. I especially like the birthday text paper.

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Needless to say, I use the tape runners every time I sit down to make a card or complete a scrapbook page. I'm know I'll find lots of uses for the rest of the product as well. 

I'll be off the grid for most of the weekend. Our Presbytery is hosting a four day event with Mark Yaconelli, a gifted workshop and retreat leader who specializes in youth ministry. Turns out he lives in Ashland, OR and is a friend of Sarah and Adam's. Today is a conference for adults at Northeastern Seminary, and tomorrow night a retreat for youth begins at the Rotary Sunshine Camp until Sunday morning. I'm on food detail. We hoped to register about 100 youth for this event, but the final count was close to 200 from 20 different churches across the Presbytery. That's a lot of subs to make for Saturday lunch! I'm not sleeping at the camp, but expect to be there most of the time.

Florida Road Trip: Part 2

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We left Miami Beach around noon, stopped at a fantastic Cuban restaurant, "Havana Harry's" in Coral Gables and headed out to the Florida Keys. Our final destination was Key West, the southern most point in the United States.

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Beside the requisite photo next to the buoy, everyone who visits Key West flocks to Mallory Square for the sunset. It didn’t disappoint.

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The sunset isn’t the only entertainment. There was a man who had trained cats to do a variety of tricks, musicians, and a fire eater.

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Little did we know, but Fantasy Fest had just begun in Key West. Costumes, and various states of undress were common as you walked down Duvall Street. The folks in costume were more than happy to pose for you. We’d never experienced anything quite like it, and our understanding is that the closer you got to Halloween, the “better it got.”

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Although we drove through Everglades National Park on our way to Tampa, there wasn’t a lot to see from the road. I was glad we stopped at the Visitor’s Center and took the time to take a walk with one of the rangers.

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Our last planned stop was a visit with our friends, Carole and Gordon, in Charlotte, NC. They wanted to take us to Asheville, NC to visit the Biltmore Estate.

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I knew it was supposed to be spectacular, but I wasn’t prepared for how immense it is. If you are used to European medieval castles, it probably doesn’t look as amazing, but it’s the largest private residence in the United States. Built by George Vanderbilt in the early 1900’s, it was a marvel of engineering and construction. We took the additional butler’s tour, and our guide was right out of Downton Abbey. We got to see the servant’s side of the mansion, as well as the amazing heating, plumbing, and communication devices that were state of the art in the early 1900’s. It was fascinating. 

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They were decorating for Christmas while we were there. Some of the rooms had as many as five totally decorated Christmas trees. No photos are allowed in the house, but the beautiful decorations put me in the holiday mood. I’d love to go back in the springtime to see the extensive gardens. All the landscaping was done by Fredrick Law Olmstead, the landscape architect of Central Park and many other public spaces in the United States. 

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On our way home, we drove a bit of the Blue Ridge Parkway. Unlike the Adirondacks in September, the Blue Ridge was past it’s autumnal peak, but we enjoyed the slow pace of the parkway before getting on the interstate to head home.

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As much as we've enjoyed and appreciate all the travel we've been able to do this year, we're grateful to be home for awhile. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Storytelling Sunday: Better Late than Never

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This is my second post of the day, but I wanted to get this episode of Storytelling Sunday up before the link closes on Sian's blog. I missed last month, and there are only two months left for this year's theme of "Pick Your Precious."

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When the year began, I made a list of some precious things I knew I wanted to write about. These books were on that list, but I couldn't find them. This weekend we pulled out a huge box from the attic of the books I saved from my classroom library when I retired. I don't ever recall using these books at school, but I must have taken them there for some purpose. I'm delighted to have found them.

E. B. White has been a favorite author since I was a child. Stuart Little was published three years before I was born, but my copy was purchased in 1953. My mother's inscription indicates it was bought in Chicago, probably on one of the many trips we made between Kansas (where we lived) and our relatives in Ohio.

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I was four years old when Charlotte's Web was published. Four seems a bit young for Charlotte's Web, but my father read The New Yorker every week, and E.B. White was regularly published there. Thanks to my father, I have a first edition copy.

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My parents inscribed my name and often the date in every book they purchased for me, and I have tried to do the same for my children and grandchildren.

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I wish I had inherited my mother's beautiful script handwriting! As important as these books are to me, what they represent more than anything is the love of reading my parents instilled in me. My father read aloud to us nearly every night, and continued to read articles and short stories aloud to me even when I was in my forties! 

Here's a scrapbook page I made a few years ago that celebrates that love.

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And here, on this Christmas Journal page from 2008, is a photo of my father reading to my brother and me at Christmas time in our apartment in Hays, Kansas.

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It's clear that Charlotte's Web needs a bit of repair and I need to investigate how to do that without ruining the value of the first edition, but it's never going to be sold. I know for sure, Sarah will be happy to acquire it for her already large collection of children's books. She's a more avid reader than I am, and Caleb's first phrase was, "read book." It's a good sign.

Florida Road Trip: Part 1

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We’re nine days into November, and I just finished editing the photos from our road trip to Florida. There was too much driving, but we had a lovely time. The highlight of the trip down was dinner in Savannah, Georgia at Pearl’s Saltwater Grill. I found it on Yelp (one of our favorite apps, especially when we’re traveling), and called for reservations the night before. We had a window table overlooking the saltwater marsh, and were rewarded with a lovely view.

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Then a full moon rose, and our window seat became prime real estate. The food was just as great as the view.

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The reason for our trip was Rachel and Juan’s wedding in Boca Raton, Florida. Rachel and Juan had arranged for rooms at the Boca Resort. Truly the nicest hotel we’ve ever stayed in. 

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Here’s a shot of the view from our room on the 22nd floor overlooking the Intracoastal Waterway and the Atlantic Ocean. 

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The wedding was simply splendid. One of Sarah’s and Rachel’s friends from our church is an ordained pastor, and Lindsey delivered a wonderful homily. We’ve know Lindsey and Rachel since they were toddlers, and it’s so nice to see what wonderful, competent women they’ve become. Following the service, the reception took place on the beach. It was hot the whole time we were in Florida, but the breeze off the ocean kept everyone at the reception comfortable. Here’s a shot of the beautiful bride and handsome groom. It was such a special day!

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As in Savannah, as dinner was being served, a bright orange full moon arose over the ocean. It was magical, but you’ll have to imagine it as the iPhone photo doesn’t do it justice.

Monday we were in Miami Beach for the Art Deco Architectural Tour. 

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(This shot was taken Sunday afternoon; it was hot and humid both days!)

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I knew I liked the Art Deco style, but I didn’t know a lot about it. It’s characterized by geometric lines, eyebrows (more about that in a minute), symmetry, cool colors, and corner windows. In the photo below, look above each window and you’ll see a ledge that hangs over the top of the window. Most of the Art Deco buildings in Miami were built prior to the invention and installation of air conditioning. The “eyebrow” casts a shadow over the window, keeping the rooms cooler. 

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I loved this retro automobile that was sitting on the street across from the welcome center.

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I'll be back tomorrow with the second half of the trip.